The Protestant Reformation Martin Luther began the Reformation in the early 1500 s when he nailed his 95 theses on the church in Wittenberg, however other earlier developments had set the stage for religious change One development grew from widespread changes in intellectual thought. This came from new classical learning that was part of the Italian Renaissance It spread to northern Europe; from that came a movement called Christian Humanism. The major goal was to reform the Roman Catholic Church Above all, Christian Humanist believed that if you wish to change society, you must change the people who make up that society Why reform the Catholic Church? Main reason was corruption 1450-1520 a series of popes, known as the Renaissance Popes failed to meet the church s spiritual needs. They seemed to be more concerned with Italian politics and worldly interest rather than with spiritual matters. Others were concerned with money and used their church offices to advance their careers and their wealth Priest seemed ignorant of their spiritual duties. People wanted to know how to save their souls and many priest were unable to offer them advice or instruction. People wanted meaningful religious experiences and assurance of their salvation or acceptance into heaven Collections of relics grew more popular as a means to salvation. With the worship of a relic, a person could gain an indulgence (release from all or part of the punishment for sin) In fact, the Catholic Church also sold indulgences Martin Luther was a monk and a professor The certainty of salvation bothered him The Catholic Church said faith and good works gave you salvation Luther found that humans are not saved through their good works, but through their faith in God. This idea, known as justification by faith became the chief teaching of the Protestant Reformation. Since Luther got this idea by studying the bible alone, it became the primary source of religious truth Luther didn t see himself as a rebel, but was greatly upset by the widespread selling of indulgences. On Oct 31, 1517, Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. Thousands of copies were printed and spread of all parts of Germany
Pope Leo X didn t take the issue seriously. Called Luther some drunken German who will amend his ways when he sobers up By 1520, things had begun to move toward a more definite break. Luther called on the German princes to overthrow the papacy in Germany and make a new German church. Luther also attacked the sacraments Remember the 7 from the Catholic Church? Luther only kept 2 baptism and the Eucharist Clergy were now allowed to marry Emphasize his new doctrine of salvation: IT IS FAITH ALONE THAT JUSTIFIES AND BRINGS SALVATION THOUGH CHRIST Catholic Church excommunicated him in 1521. Charles V brought Luther before A Holy Roman Empire court and by the Diet of Worms, he was made an outlaw within the empire His works were burned and Luther was sent into hiding During the next few years, the movement became a revolution. Luther got the support of many of German rulers. Followers of Luther set up new religious services to replace the catholic mass. This involved Bible Readings, preaching and song Lutheranism began to flourish Politics in the German Reformation Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire wanted to keep the unity of his empire by keeping it Catholic Other problems within the Empire cost him this dream because it gave time for Lutherans to organize before having to face the Catholic forces France and the pope got into the mix and began fighting Germany and especially Charles By the time Charles was able to bring military forces to Germany to face the Lutherans, the princes were well organizes and Charles had to make peace War came to an end in 1555 with the Peace of Augsburg. Accepted the division of Christianity in Germany. German states now able to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism. The ideal of Christian unity was forever lost. Protestantism was the new thing, however conflicts were there also One of the first new groups appeared in Switzerland.
Huldrych Zwingli was a priest in Zurich and influenced the city council to introduce religious reforms Relics and images were abolished Paintings and decorations were removed from the churches New church service was made with more scripture reading He made an alliance with Martin Luther Problem was they couldn t agree with the sacrament of communion In Oct 1531, war broke out and Zwingli was killed Now it was up to John Calvin to lead the Protestant movement He was from France and was forced to flee France for Switzerland Calvin believed in predestination.god had determined in advance who would be saved and who would be damned. This belief spread and Calvinism spread Calvin worked on reforming Geneva in Switzerland Created a church government It was very strict. Punished people for CRIMES like dancing, signing obscene songs, drunkenness, swearing ENGLAND More reforms. In fact, they started their own church King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon because he only had a daughter, not a son Needed a male heir. He wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. His was impatient with the pope s unwillingness to annual his marriage and Henry turned to England s own church courts The archbishops of Canterbury said that the king s marriage was null and void. And Anne was crowned queen. Three months later, she had a child. This child was female and would go on to be Elizabeth I In 1534, Parliament moved to finalize the break of the Catholic Church in England with the pope in Rome. It was called the Act of Supremacy of 1534 and declared that the king was taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head of earth of the Church of England Gave king control of religious doctrine. Dissolved the monasteries and sell their land and possessions to wealthy landowners When Henry died in 1547, his son from his 3 rd wife Edward VI (9 years old) took the crown Church officials moved the Church of England (ANGLICAN CHURCH) in a protestant direction
Clergy had right to marry and new kinds of church service When Mary, Henry s daughter by Catherine came to the throne in 1553, England was ready for a reaction Mary was catholic and wanted to bring it back However, the way she went about it was bad Burned 300 Protestants and got the nickname Bloody Mary By the end of her reign, and the backlash, England was even more protestant Luther had allowed the state to play an important role. Some didn t like this, they were radicals and known as Anabaptists The true church was a voluntary community of adult believers who had undergone spiritual rebirth and had then been baptized. This believe in adult baptism separated them from other religions All believers were equal. They chose their own minister Any member of the community was eligible to be a minister Complete separation of church and state Anabaptist refused to hold office and/or bear arms (Thou shall not kill) They were labeled radicals. In fact, the only things Protestants and Catholics could agree on was they hated the Anabaptists and wanted to get rid of them The Catholic Reformation By the mid 1500 s, much had changed But through all this, the Catholic Church still had a revitalization in the 1500 s giving it new strength and enabling it to regain much that it had lost The Catholic reformation was support by 3 chief pillars 1. The Jesuits 2. The Reform of the Papacy 3. The Council of Trent The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) Was founded by Ignatius of Loyola Took a special vow of absolute obedience to the pope making them an important instrument for papal policy Used education to spread their message Very successful restoring the Catholic Church to part of Germany and Eastern Europe. Reform of the Papacy Pope Paul III appointed a reform commission in 1537 Commission blamed the church s problems on the corrupt politics of the popes. Paul III began the Council of Trent Met on and off for 18 years Reaffirmed traditional catholic teaching in opposition to protestant beliefs.
Both faith and good works were necessary for salvation. The Seven sacraments and clerical celibacy were all upheld Belief in Purgatory and the use of indulgences was strengthened, but selling them were forbidden After the Council of Trent, the church possessed a clear body of doctrine and was unified under the supreme leadership of the pope Fights between Catholics and Protestants. Calvinism and Catholicism had become highly militant (combative) religions. Both battled for not just converts, but also in eliminated he other s authority. Both sides struggled for the people of Europe caused chaos during the late 1500 s Religion was main reason, but economic, social, and political forces played an important role in the wars None worse than the French War of Religion (1562-1598) They were French civil wars French kings persecuted Protestants, but they didn t do anything to stop the spread of Protestantism The Huguenots were French Protestants influenced by John Calvin. They only made up only 7% of total French population, but 40-50% of nobility became Huguenots. Included in these group of nobles was the house of Bourbon with ruled the southern French kingdom of Navarre. They were also next in line of royal secession. The dynasty in power was very Catholic. French towns and provinces hated the monarchy and helped the nobles to weaken it. 30 years this war went on for. In 1589, Henry of Navarre, succeeded to the thorn as Henry IV. He knew that he wouldn t be accepted by catholic France, so he converted. When he became king, the fighting in France finally came to an end. To solve religious problems, he issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598 It recognized Catholicism as the official religion of France, but gave Huguenots the right to worship and to enjoy all political privileges Spain was the greatest supporter of militant Catholicism and Philip II was King His first goal was to consolidate the lands he had inherited from his father. He ruled Spain, the Netherlands and had possessions in Italy and the Americas. Insisted on strict agreement to Catholicism and strong monarchical authority.
Because it was the Catholics that drove out the Muslims, they thought their people chosen by God to save catholic from the protestant heretics The Spanish Netherlands was one of the richest parts of Philip s empire. The nobles there didn t like him and he tried to crush Calvinism Lots of violence in 1566 when Calvinists destroyed statues in catholic churches Phillip sent in 10000 troops to crush the rebellion. When Philip s reign ended in 1598, Spain had the most populous empire in the world. Had most of South American and a number of settlements in Asia and Africa. To most Europeans, Spain greatest power, but its treasury was empty. Gone bankrupt from spending too much on war real power will shift to France and England ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH Elizabeth Tudor ascended to the throne in 1558 when England had fewer than 4 million people. During her reign, she became the leader of the protestant nations and laid the foundations for a world empire She moved quickly to solve the difficult religious problem she got from her catholic half sister. Repealed the law favoring Catholics. New Act of Supremacy named Elizabeth the only supreme governor of both church and state. She tied to keep Spain and France from becoming too powerful by balancing power. If one nation seemed to be gaining in power, England would support the weaker nation However, she couldn t escape a war with Spain Philip II wanted to invade England. He wanted an overthrow of Protestantism and a return to Catholicism Philip ordered preparations for an armada (fleet of warships) in 1588. The fleet that set sail didn t have the ships or the manpower that Philip had planned. Spanish fleet, battered by a number of encounters with the English, sailed back to Spain by a northward route around Scotland an Ireland where it was pounded by storms and many of the ships sank. -------- Although the Peace of Augsburg was signed, there were still problems For example, Calvinism had not been recognized by the settlement (only Lutheranism) Political and territorial motives were evident. The War started in 1618. It was a struggle between catholic forces led by the Hapsburg Holy Roman Empire and Protestants nobles in Bohemia
After this, it was a large political struggle as Denmark, Sweden, France an Spain entered the war France and the rulers of Spain and the HRE battled for European leadership This war was the most destructive thus far. Most battles were on German soil and most nations besides England were involved For 30 years, German countryside was destroyed as well as the towns France emerged as the dominant nation in Europe Peace of Westphalia was signed and said that all German states could determine their own religion. The 300+ German states were now independent and the Holy Roman Empire came to an end German will still not be united for another 200 years Superstition and Enlightenment After the religions reformation and wars, new types of thinking emerged. Some good and some bad Witch Hunts and Panic Many started in villages People used witches to explain the unexplained Only priest could perform magic (turning wine into Jesus blood, etc) so any other form was outlawed in many communities Women were the primary target (80% of accused witches were women) Panic ended with 150,000 accused and over 50,000 killed for being a witch Writers and Philosophers They writers reacted to the renaissance and intellectual traditions Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra His most famous work, Don Quixote, used down-to-earth realism William Shakespeare Wrote about a boy and a girl Blaise Pascal Wanted to write to disprove the Jesuits and their teachings Thomas Hobbes A political thinker. His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory John Locke Also a political thinker. He came up with ideas like life, liberty, property and was the base of the American Revolution.