Transcript The Reformation

The Reformation
A Need For Reform
The Italian and Christian humanists
denounced the corruption of the Church
a) clerical immorality
b) clerical ignorance
c) clerical pluralism
At the village level priests were not much
better off than peasants
Government officials were often rewarded
with clerical positions
Popes were just as corrupt:
Alexander VI publicly acknowledged
his mistress and children
Julius II led an army against France
Many priest had concubines, drunkenness,
gambling, and elaborate dress were
common
Many priest could barely read or write
Christian humanists condemned the
ignorance of the Church
The Church held a large portion of
European wealth
Europe was still deeply religious and
many groups wanted reform
Martin Luther would force the issue
• Born in East Germany from peasant stock
• Almost hit by lightning became religious
• Entered a strict monastery against his
father’s wishes
• Disillusioned with the Church questioned
good works: prayers, fasting, etc.
• “The just shall live by his faith” if
people had faith God will save them
• Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg hired John
Tetzel to oversee the collection of funds
• Luther openly criticized the abuses of
Indulgences
• October 31, 1517, he posted his 95 theses on the
Castle Church in Wittenberg
• Spread without Luther’s knowledge.
• Reasons for success:
a) Germany resented papal power
b) Distance from Rome
c) Lack of central authority to mediate the
dispute
• Pope Leo X did not take the threat
seriously
• Church opinion was espoused by Tetzel
• Diet of Ausburg demanded that Luther
recant.
• Luther refused and even criticized the
pope
• The church wanted to banish Luther but he
was protected by Frederick the Wise
• Under increasing pressure Luther’s views
became more critical
• Luther: a) defended the radical matyr Hus
b) Proclaimed the Bible was the supreme
authority
c) Appealed to the German nobles to stop the
abuses of the church
d) Recognized good work but emphasized faith
• The pope gave Luther 60 days to recant
Luther burned the papal bull
• Luther appealed to the Holy Roman Emperor
to hear the argument at the Diet of Worms
• Luther refused to modify his views and said
“Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise”
• Luther was abducted an placed in Wartburg
Castle for his own protection
• Abandoned the cloth and married
and had six children
• Luther was not a revolutionary
• Knew the Church would not change
• Concerned with issues of the soul
• Equality of all people before God
Luther believed:
• salvation comes by faith alone
• religious authority resides in the Bible and is
open to interpretation
• the church is a community of believers
• all vocations are equal in the eyes of God
• there are only 2 sacraments: baptism and the
Lord’s Supper
• the importance of marriage
• a women’s place was in the home
Luther gained wide support among the peasants
but they misunderstood him
Business people envied the church and
disapproved of the clergy’s lifestyle
But Luther meant independence from the Roman
Catholic Church not simply freedom
Still religion was a public matter
Very few believed in religious liberty
Humanists validated Luther’s words
While Luther’s translation of the Bible into
German made it an issue of nationalism
• In the Habsburg-Valois War, Catholic France
supported Protestant Germany against Catholic
Spain
• The Peace of Augsburg (1555) officially
recognized Lutheranism and each prince could
decide the religion of his territory
• Northern Germany -Protestant
Southern Germany - Catholic
• The Protestant movement proved a disaster for
Germany
Calvinism
• John Calvin was the
person most responsible
for the spread of
Protestantism
• About 20 years younger
than Luther
• Started in Geneva – a
theocracy
• Did not believe in free will
• Predestination
• The Calling – Protestant work ethic
• Spread to Scotland, France, England
and America
ENGLISH
REFORMATION
The King’s Great Matter
• English humanists had been wanting reform
• 1509 Henry VIII became the king aged 18
• Henry was strongly Catholic and had been
trained as a priest
• The pope gave him the title Defender of the
Faith
• Luther called him a “lubberly ass”
Henry VIII
• Was given special permission from Pope
Julius II to marry Catherine of Aragon,
• Catherine had been his brother’s wife
Catherine of Aragon
• Daughter of King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella
• Catholic
• She had five daughters, only Mary
survived
• Henry asked Pope Clement VII to
grant a divorce
• Pope says no
• Denied an annulment of marriage
• Henry issued The Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533),
which made the king supreme head of England
• The Act of Submission of the Clergy (1534), clergy
must submit to the monarch
• The Supremacy Act, (1534) made the king head of
the Church of England
• Separated Church of England from the Roman
Catholic Church
• Thomas More was appointed to a government
office, but refused to support Henry’s policies.
He was imprisoned and beheaded.
• Catherine still remained loyal to him and the
Catholic faith.
• With the Catholic Church no longer in control
of England, the king could now remarry
Anne Boleyn
• Maid of honor to Catherine
• 2nd wife and most famous
wife
• Bore him a daughter
– Elizabeth I
• In 1536, charged Anne of
adultery
• Beheaded on May 19, 1536
Jane Seymour
• Third wife
• Protestant
• Gave birth to a son
– King Edward VI
• Died as a teen, only reigned for about 6
years
• Henry dissolved the monastaries and kept the
wealth
• Sold the land to his friends
Edward VI
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Only son of Henry
His mother died of child bed fever
Became king at nine
Died from several sicknesses in 1553
Mary Tudor
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Became queen after Edward died
Devoted Catholic
Nicknamed “Bloody Mary”
Married her cousin Philip II of Spain
Very unpopular
Elizabeth I
• Became queen of England in 1558
• Protestant, but tolerant
• One of the most well-known monarchs in
English history
• Reigned over the Elizabethan Renaissance
and patronized the arts (Shakespeare)
SCOTLAND
• Did not follow the English model
• Scottish nobles supported the Protestants and John
Knox, a Protestant reformer
• Knox persuaded Parliament to end papal
supremacy in Scotland
• Established the Presbyterian Church of Scotland
The Catholic Reformation
• Also known as the Counter-Reformation
• Began in 1517 in response to calls for
reform
• Didn’t really have an affect until the 1540s
• Catholic Church wanted to persuade
dissidents to return to the church
• The Lateran Council (1512) had told Julius
II to reform the church
• Popes resisted reform because they feared a
loss of power and revenue
• Pope Paul III Council
of Trent in 1545
• New religious orders appeared, such as the
Jesuits and Ursuline Order
• These orders emphasized strict Catholic dogma
to lift up the spiritual condition of the clergy
and laity
• The Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) was founded
by Ignatius Loyola and emphasized education
• The Ursuline Order was only for women