THE AGE OF REFORMATION

  1. Prelude to Reformation: The Northern Renaissance
  2. Christian Renaissance Humanism
  3. Cultivated knowledge of the classics.
  4. Focused on writings of Christian antiquity
  5. Studied Greek to read the New Testament in its original Greek version
  6. Studied works of Augustine, Ambrose & Jerome
  7. Main priority was reforming the Church
  8. Worked as secretaries to lay rulers such as kings, dukes and city govt's
  9. Erasmus (1466-1536)
  10. Most influential of the Christian humanists
  11. Dutchman who popularized the Church reform movement
  12. Known for such works as Adages, Handbook of the Christian KnightPraise of Folly
  13. Believed the Vulgate, the standard Latin edition of the Bible, contained errors so he edited the Greek text of the New Testament to publish a new Latin translation
  14. Believed that Christianity should return to the simple “philosophy of Christ”
  15. Eventually disapproved of Luther & Protestant reformers
  16. Wanted to maintain unity of the Church
  17. Thomas More (1478-1535)
  18. English humanist who translated several works by Greek authors
  19. Wrote original works in Latin
  20. Most famous work was Utopia which describes the ideal society, a community in sharp contrast to the world More lived in
  21. Devout Roman Catholic
  22. Opposed England’s break with the Church
  23. Executed by Henry Vlll when More refused to recognize the king as the head of the Church of England
  24. Prelude to Reformation Church and Religion on the Eve of the Reformation
  25. The Clergy
  26. The nobility and wealthy middle class dominated the highest church offices
  27. Pluralism and the attendant problem of absenteeism plagued era.
  28. Economic forces led to growing rift between the higher and lower clergy.
  29. Parish priests often accused of ignorance & corruption.
  30. Popular Religion
  31. Viewed process of salvation mechanically
  32. Quest for a tranquil spirituality (EX: Modern Devotion Movement)
  33. Venerated religious relics
  34. Bought indulgences
  35. Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany
  36. Early Luther
  37. Born into a German peasant family (son of a miner)
  38. At his father’s urging, Luther studied law upon graduation from the Univ. Of Erfurt
  39. In 1505, while caught in a terrible storm, Martin Luther vowed that if he escaped the storm alive, he would become a monk
  40. While a monk, Luther focused on learning more about attaining salvation (obsessed with own sins)
  41. Had difficulty with church’s solution for attaining salvation—penance or confession (sacraments)
  42. Became a doctor of theology in 1512 and became a professor at the Univ. Of Wittenberg
  43. Did not believe one could achieve salvation from “good works”
  44. Believed salvation could be achieved by faith alone
  45. Believed Bible was the Sole Authority in religious matters
  46. Luther came into open conflict with the Church over the sale of indulgences which he opposed
  47. Responded to sale of indulgences by posting his “95 Theses” in Wittenberg deploring their existence and indicting the church for selling them in the 1st place
  48. Reiterated that justification could be achieved by faith alone
  49. Church used jingle in response, “as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs”

12. Debated Catholic theologian Johann Eck in Leipzig in July 1519

  1. Eck, a capable adversary, forced Luther to move beyond indulgences and deny the authority of popes and councils
  2. Luther realized the debate probably spelled the end of his career within Catholic Church

13. Moved further away from Church by publishing the pamphlets in 1520

  1. Address to the Nobility of the German Nation (written in German) called for German princes to overthrow the papacy in Germany and establish a reformed German Church
  2. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (written in Latin)

--Attacked system of the church

--Called for the clergy to marry

c. On the Freedom of a Christian Man

-- Reiterated that faith alone not good works brings salvation through Jesus

14. Outraged by his ideas, the church excommunicated Luther in January 1521

15. Summoned to appear at the Diet of Worms convened by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Luther remained obstinate

  1. Expected to recant, Luther refused stating that “my conscience is captive to the Word of God”
  2. An enraged &indignant Charles V ordered Luther’s works to be burned & branded him an outlaw within the empire
  3. Development of Lutheranism
  4. After a brief period of hiding, Luther began to organize an independent church in 1522
  5. Between 1520 and 1560, 16,000 students graduated from Luther’s Univ. of Wittenberg and began spreading his teachings all over Germany
  6. Pro-Luther pamphlets portrayed Pope as anti-Christ and attacked Church greed.
  7. Lutheran message well received throughout Germany.
  8. Christian humanists such as Erasmus broke with Luther when it became apparent that he no longer had any interest in reforming the Catholic Church but wanted to establish his own new church.
  9. Luther faced most controversial challenge from the Peasants’ War of the mid 1520s.
  10. Mistreated peasants in southern Germany looked to Luther for support against the oppressive local lords.
  11. In his pamphlet, Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, Luther made it clear with whom he sided with when he called on German princes to crush the peasant uprising.
  12. Luther believed it was okay to challenge a misguided church, but not to revolt against political authorities.
  13. German princes, whom Luther relied on for the growth and maintenance of his reformed church, ruthlessly massacred peasants at Frankenhausen on May, 1525.
  14. Church and State
  15. In his new reformed church, Luther kept only two Catholic sacraments---baptism & communion (Lord’s Supper)----denied existence of transubstantiation
  16. Unlike the Catholic Church, Luther’s church emphasized importance of the Bible at the expense of church decrees.
  17. Relied on secular princes to protect and nurture his “Protestant” movement
  18. Instituted new religious services to replace Catholic mass including:
  19. German liturgy
  20. Bible reading
  21. Preaching word of God
  22. Song

5. Married former nun Katherina von Bora, in 1525, which served as an example to his ministers who he encouraged to marry.

  1. Germany and Reformation: Religion and Politics
  2. Empire of Charles V (Hapsburg Dynasty)
  3. Spain
  4. Austria
  5. Bohemia
  6. Hungary
  7. Low Countries
  8. Kingdom of Naples (Southern Italy)

He is quoted as saying, “I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.”

B.Political Concerns

  1. Rivalry with France (Primary concern of Charles V)
  2. King Francis I (Valois Dynasty of France) became involved in land dispute with Charles V over territories in Southern France, the Netherlands, the Rhineland, Northern Spain, and Italy.
  3. Conflict sparked a 24 year era of periodic fighting between Hapsburg and Valois families called the Hapsburg-Valois Wars (1521-1544)
  4. Conflict with France prevented Charles V from dealing with Lutheran problem.
  5. Conflict with Papacy
  6. Charles V expected support from Church because of his hardliner views against Lutherans within his empire.
  7. Fearing Hapsburg dominance of Italy, not only did the Church not give Charles the support he was looking for on the Lutheran question, but also Pope Clement VII backed Francis I in his war with Charles V.
  8. April, 1527, Spanish soldiers sacked Rome and Charles and Clement VII reached an understanding.
  9. Surging Ottoman Turks
  10. Ottoman leader Suleiman the Magnificent defeated King Louis of Hungary (Charles’ brother-in-law) at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526.
  11. Ottoman Turks overran most of Hungary and moved into Austria as far as Vienna before being repulsed in 1529.
  12. Lutheran Problem
  13. Neither the Catholic Church nor German princes, who swore loyalty to Charles V, went out of their way to help him deal with the Lutherans because both feared his power was already too great.
  14. Charles V demanded that his subjects who were Lutheran return to the Catholic Church by April 15, 1531. (Diet of Augsburg,1530)
  15. Forced to compromise with Lutherans so he could focus on military challenges from France and Ottoman Turks from 1532 to 1545
  16. By 1546, Charles was ready to deal with Protestants once and for all
  1. Schmalkaldic League
  2. 8 princes & 11 imperial cities (all Lutheran ) formed a defensive alliance against Charles called the Schmalkaldic League
  3. Schmalkaldic Wars went well for Charles’ forces early on after he defeated the Protestant forces at Muhlberg
  4. By 1552, Schmalkaldic League joined forces with new French king Henry II
  5. Combined forces were too much for Charles to defeat and a negotiated settlement ended fighting (Peace of Augsburg 1555)
  6. Peace of Augsburg granted Lutherans same legal rights as Catholics with the HRE
  7. Princes, not subject people, could choose whether their territories were Lutheran or Catholic
  8. Charles V, weary, abdicated in 1556 disillusioned
  1. The Spread of the Protestant Reformation
  2. Lutheranism in Scandinavia (most readily accepted)
  3. Swedish barons led by Gustavus Vasa established an independent Kingdom of Sweden
  4. Vasa ruled Sweden as king from (1523-1560)
  5. Took the lead in establishing a Lutheran Reformation in Sweden
  6. Efforts supported by Swedish nobles
  7. 1st Swedish Lutheran National Church was established by the 1530s
  8. Christian II (1513-1523) was deposed as King of Denmark by Danish nobility
  9. was succeeded by his uncle, Frederick I (1523-1533) who encouraged the spread of Lutheranism
  10. Frederick I’s successor Christian III (1534-1559) established a Lutheran state church with the king as the supreme authority
  11. Christian III was instrumental in spreading Lutheranism to Norway
  12. The Zwinglian Reformation (before Zwingli, Swiss were known for exporting mercenaries across Europe)
  13. Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
  14. Product of the Swiss rural cantons
  15. Son of a relatively prosperous peasant—he earned both bachelor of arts as well as master of arts degrees
  16. During his college years, was greatly influenced by Christian humanist
  17. Ordained as a priest in 1506, he took over a parish post in rural Switzerland
  18. Appointed cathedral priest of Zurich in 1518 where he began his Reformation-minded preaching
  19. Zwingli’s beliefs
  20. Claimed his theology was independent of Luther’s influence
  21. City magistrates kicked Catholics out of Zurich leaving the city in the religious hands of Zwingli & followers and at the same time increasing their own power
  22. Zwingli put church under state supervision
  23. Relics and images were abolished in churches
  24. Mass was replaced by scripture reading, prayer & sermons
  25. Music was eliminated from church services
  26. Monasticism, pilgrimages, veneration of saints, clerical celibacy, pope’s authority were all abolished

3. Challenges to Zwingli

  1. Zwingli reforms faced a serious challenge from Switzerland’s forest cantons which remained Catholic
  2. Attempted to align themselves with Lutherans but their meeting at Marburg produced no alliance between Lutherans and Zwinglian leadership
  3. big hang up between Zwingli and Luther was the Lord’s Supper
  4. Unlike Luther, Zwingli believed that communion should be taken figuratively not literally
  5. Zwingli’s reform movement was temporarily halted and slowed by his death in the Swiss Civil War in 1531 (Protestants v. Catholics)
  6. The Radical Reformation: The Anabaptists
  7. Anabaptists were the radicals of the Reformation
  8. Believed in adult baptism
  9. Believed all believers were equal
  10. Believed that true Christians should not actively participate in or be governed by a secular state
  11. Persecuted by both Protestants and Catholics
  12. Rejuvenated in Netherlands under the pacifist Menno Simons (followers called Mennonites)
  13. Millenarianism, the belief that the end of the world is imminent, gained a foothold during this time

D.The Reformation in England

  1. Henry VIII (1509-1547)
  2. English king given title of “Defender of the Faith” by the pope for the defense of church doctrine he penned in an effort to discredit Luther
  3. English people had begun to resent the wealth & influence of the Roman Catholic Church
  1. Upper and middle classes influenced by Christian humanists
  2. Lower classes influenced by Lollardy

c. Reformation in England under Henry VIII was triggered by the king’s desire to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (Aunt to Charles V of Spain)

1. she had not produced male heir

2. he was in love with Anne Boleyn

  1. Pope, heavily dependent on Spanish good will, refused to annul Henry’s marriage and risk Charles V’s anger
  2. Henry dismissed Cardinal Wolsey, the highest ranking church official in England, and replaced him with Thomas Cramner
  3. Cramner, archbishop of Canterbury under pressure from the king, ruled Henry’s marriage to Catherine ‘null and void’ & quickly validated Henry’s marriage to an already pregnant Boleyn.
  4. Act of Supremacy (1534) passed by Parliament declared that Henry was the supreme head of church in England which cemented England’s break from Rome
  5. The Treason Act was passed soon after which made it an act punishable by death to deny that Henry was head of the church (EX: Thomas More’s execution)
  6. Church land was confiscated by Henry under Thomas Cromwell’s direction and sold to nobles & wealthy merchants in order to restore financial stability to the royal treasury
  7. Henry refused to change most religious doctrines (Six Articles Act of 1539—kept sacraments in tact)
  8. Edward VI (1547-1553)
  9. sickly son of Henry VIII & 3rd wife Jane Seymour
  10. succeeded father as king at the age of nine
  11. Archbishop Cramner made decisions during Edward’s reign on matters of religion and moved Church of England in a Protestant direction by:
  12. Allowing clergy to marry
  13. Eliminating images within church
  14. creating a new Protestant liturgy called Book of Common Prayer
  15. changes stirred up large amount of opposition
  16. Edward died of consumption
  17. Mary I (1553-1558)
  18. oldest daughter of Henry VIII who took over after death of younger half-brother Edward
  19. daughter of Catherine of Aragon and like mother---staunchly Roman Catholic
  20. attempted unsuccessfully to restore Catholicism to England (her attempt stirred great opposition)
  21. married Spanish prince Phillip II (marriage very unpopular with English people who generally hated the Spanish)
  22. lost last English holding (Calais) in France which had been won during the Hundred Years’ War
  23. burned over 300 Protestant heretics at the stake (Smithfield Fires)
  24. increasingly unpopular with the people, Catholic restoration ended with her death in 1558. (at age 42)
  1. John Calvin and the Development Of Calvinism
  2. John Calvin (1509-1564)
  3. Frenchman who stands out as the systematic theologian and organizer of the Protestant movement
  4. Born in Paris in 1509
  5. Educated to become a priest but also studied the law to please his father
  6. Early on, Calvin was influenced by Luther’s writings
  7. Converted to Protestantism and fled Paris because Francis I periodically persecuted Protestants
  8. Published Institutes of the Christian Religion before moving to Geneva, Switzerland where he would live out the rest of his life
  9. Responsible for the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541 which was the constitution for his church in Geneva and would be used as a Protestant blueprint by future generations
  10. Calvinism
  11. Stood close to Luther on most religious doctrines including Luther’s central idea of salvation by faith alone
  12. Calvin emphasized absolute sovereignty of God
  13. Calvin introduced concept of “predestination”
  1. Some were predestined by God to be saved (the elect)
  2. Some were predestined to be damned (the reprobate)
  1. Imposed strict penalties for blasphemy & immoral behavior

d. encouraged hard work (protestant work ethic)

e. Ecclesiastical Ordinances enabled the Consistory to oversee the moral life of the citizenry & issue fraternal corrections

  1. Social Impact of the Protestant Reformation
  2. Family
  3. Women should obey their husbands
  4. God punished women for the sins of Eve by giving them the burden of childbirth
  5. Left women few career avenues outside of the home
  6. Did not want women to play active role in church hierarchy
  7. Education in the Reformation
  8. Adopted the classical emphasis of humanist schools
  9. Believed all children should have an opportunity of an education provided by the state
  10. Improved secondary schooling through gymnasiums and ministerial training
  11. Religious Practices and Popular Culture: the Protestants eliminated or at least greatly curtailed the following:
  12. Selling of Indulgences
  13. Veneration of saints & relics
  14. Clerical Celibacy
  15. The celebration of religious holy days
  16. Religious pilgrimages
  17. Monasticism
  18. Protestants with less success tried to ban the following
  19. Drinking of alcohol in taverns
  20. Dancing
  21. Theatrical productions
  22. Exchanging of gifts at Christmas
  23. Catholic Reformation
  24. Mixture of old and new ideas

B.Mysticism and monasticism saw revivals

  1. Regeneration of religious orders proved an invaluable source of reform
  2. Characterized by the Roman Inquisition and the creation of the Papal Index
E.Religious Orders
  1. Benedictines and Dominicans were reformed & renewed
  2. Capuchins emerged from Franciscans
  3. returned to the life of simplicity and poverty of St. Francis of Assisi
  4. cared for the sick and the poor
  5. preached Gospel directly to the people
  6. Theatines
  7. reformed the secular clergy and encouraged clerics to fulfill duties among the laity
  8. founded orphanages and hospitals for victims of war and the plague
  9. Ursulines were an order of nuns dedicated to establishing schools to educate girls
  10. Jesuits
  11. order became the chief instrument of the Catholic Reformation
  12. founded by Spanish nobleman turned saint, Ignatius of Loyola
  13. soldier turned priest
  14. wrote Spiritual Exercises which was a manual on spiritual meditation
  15. Under St. Ignatius’s guidance this order dedicated itself to pious living, advancing education, and missionary work
  1. Revived Papacy
  2. Pope Paul III (1534-1549)
  3. recognized the Jesuit order
  4. summoned the Council of Trent
  5. established Roman Inquisition to deal with Protestants and other non-Catholics
  6. Pope Paul IV (1555-1559)
  7. increased the power of the Inquisition so that even liberal cardinals were silenced
  8. created an Index of Forbidden Books (Papal Index) which listed books deemed too sinful for Catholics to read
  9. Council of Trent (1545-1563)
  10. Called by Pope Paul III in 1542
  11. Reaffirmed traditional Catholic teachings in opposition to Protestant beliefs
  12. Helped provide church with a clear body of doctrine and a unified church under the acknowledged supremacy of the popes who triumphed over bishops and councils
  13. Set church doctrine for the next 400 years

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