The Protestant Reformation

Essential Questions

1. Where did the Protestant Reformation start?2. What were the goals and beliefs of the

Protestant Reformers?3. How were the reformers different from

traditional Catholic beliefs and practices?4. How did the different Protestant sects compare

to each other?5. How did religious reform lead to conflict?

The Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church was the most powerful institution in EuropeIn charge of education → decided what people

learnedOwned a lot of land (=$$)European leaders did what the Church told

them toRichest institution in the world

The Balance: The Church vs. The Bible

Catholicism in the 1400sSome people felt Church wasn’t following its own rules →

concerns led to the Protestant Reformation

Why Were People Unhappy??

1. Mass said in Latin – people couldn’t understand

2. Tithes: by law, people had to pay 10% of their income to the Church

• $ often used so priests could live extravagant lifestyles, while common people were suffering

3. Priests didn’t follow the many of their own rules

4. People’s respect for priests, monks, popes weakened

Selling Indulgences• Church needed $$ to build St. Peter’s Basilica• Pope Leo X approved sale of indulgences• Indulgences reduced soul’s time in purgatory

• Purgatory: where your soul had to work off your sins before you could go to heaven or hell

• After buying an indulgence, a person got a piece of paper saying they were “free of sin” • People didn’t stop sinning, just bought more

indulgences = more $$ for Church

The Selling of Indulgences

DO NOW…

What problems with the Catholic Church led to the Protestant Reformation?

Martin Luther

• Martin Luther = Catholic monk in Germany

• Well educated – could read the bible in Latin

• Wrote the 95 Theses: list of 95 things he believed were very wrong with the Church

• Criticized power of pope, wealth of Church

• Bible never mentioned indulgences → selling indulgences was a sin

• Wrote theses in German so average person could read

• Nailed theses to door of Wittenberg Castle

• Theses was published and widely read

• Desire for reform grew

1517: Martin Luther’s public criticism of the Church starts the Protestant Reformation

Luther’s Message• 1519: declared the only leader of Christian church was Jesus,

not the pope

• Said God’s forgiveness couldn’t be won through good works, only through faith

• Individual Christians should be able to read and interpret the bible, not rely on a priest

• Luther translated Bible into German

• Allowed more people to read Bible independently

So what’s the problem??

His teachings contradict what the Church is teaching and take power away from the Church.

Again … who cares?

Why does it matter that some monk in Germany is criticizing the Church?

Surely this can’t be the first time someone has been critical!

Now it makes more sense…

Long Video Clip

Spread of the Printing Press

But what if Luther had Twitter??

Theses reached Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Italy,

Switzerland, France, Scotland, and England

Church freaked out – they couldn’t have people all over

Europe questioning their authority!

Pope ordered Luther to recant (take back) his ideas, or

face excommunication (have his membership to the

Church taken away)

• 1520: officially excommunicated

• 1521: ordered to Worms to appear before Charles V

(Holy Roman Emperor)• Told to recant, he refused

• Emperor issued the Edict of Worms officially made

Luther an outlaw and banned his writings

• 1529: Charles tried to get rid of Lutherans in

Germany (under pressure from Vatican)• German princes issued a protestation (protest) against this

since many were now Lutheran• This is where the term Protestant comes from!

• Charles V forced to back down

Video Clip

Lutheranism

• Quickly spread through Germany

• Led to political, economic, and social upheaval• Led to religious

extremism • Rulers used it as a

reason to attack neighboring areas

• Peasants used it as a reason to revolt

Woodcut of Martin Luther PreachingLucas Cranach the Younger

Quick Question!

Describe the ideas of Martin Luther and how they contradicted the

Church’s teachings.

The Spread of Protestantism

John Calvin

• John Calvin: second most important Protestant reformer

• Educated in France, influenced humanists• Lived in Geneva, Switzerland

Salvation?• Predestination!

• God knows who will be saved and who won’t • Nothing humans can do, good or bad, will change the

predestined end• Believed people are sinful by nature• Used strict laws to regulate behavior

Video Clip

Use the map to the right to answer the questions!

Other Reformers

John Knox• Scotland

• Reformed Church replaced Roman Catholic Church

• Laid groundwork for later Presbyterians

Anabaptists

• Insisted on rebaptizing adults

• Baptism didn’t make sense for infants

• Baptizing adults was a crime punishable by death at that time

• Evolved into Hutterites, the Mennonites, and the Amish Mennonites

Spread of the Anabaptists

Different Countries, Different Reforms

• Switzerland - Calvinists• England - Puritans• Scotland - Presbyterians• Holland - Dutch Reform• France - Huguenots• Germany - Lutherans

Spread of the Reformation by the Late

16th Century

Quick Question!

How did the ideas of reformers who came after Luther differ from those

of Luther?

Reformation Spreads to England(aka: A Series of Problems)

• 1509: Henry VIII (8th) became king at 17• Devout Catholic, hated Luther

• Problem 1: Henry wanted a son, but only had daughter Mary (thought female monarch would weaken England)

• Solution! Have marriage to Catherine annulled (declared invalid)• Problem 2: Pope wouldn’t agree • Problem 3: Henry had fallen in love with his mistress, Anne

Boleyn• Problem 4: Henry doesn’t like being told “no”

Solution: Adios Church!• England declared it no longer considered itself under the

authority of the pope

• 1533: Anne Boleyn and Henry secretly married, marriage to Catherine annulled

• Anne gave birth to daughter, Elizabeth

• 1534: Church of England created • Henry named “Supreme Head of Church of England”• Members known as Anglican • Rituals very similar to Catholic Church• Closed Catholic monasteries, convents, distributed much of land to

nobles• Built public support for split from Church because nobility was able

to gain financially

Video Clip

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Annulled Beheaded

BeheadedDivorced Widowed

Died after Childbirth

Henry’s Kids• Third wife, Jane Seymour, gave England male heir - Edward VI• 1547: Edward VI took throne at age 9• Edward died at 16; oldest sister, Mary became queen of England

Bloody Mary• Returned England to Catholicism

• Hundreds burned at stake for Protestant beliefs, earning queen title “Bloody Mary”

• 1558: Died

Elizabeth I• 1559: new Supremacy Act, splitting

England again from Vatican

• Persecuted Catholics to stay in power

• 1603: Died

Quick Questions

What caused the Reformation to spread to England?

It’s about more than just religion though!

Conflict between England and Spain

• Between 1540’s and 1580’s: England and Spain fighting

• Spain’s King Philip II (married to Bloody Mary and hoped to marry Elizabeth I) planned to invade England to stop the expansion of the Protestantism

• Elizabeth’s navy defeated the much larger Spanish Armada.

• The loss of almost the entire Spanish fleet opened passage to the New World to England, France, and the Netherlands

The Counter-Reformation(aka: the Catholic Response)

1. Council of Trent

2. The Society of Jesus (“Jesuits”)

3. The Inquisition

4. The Index: list of book prohibited by the ChurchFirst version included works by Luther, Calvin, Galileo,

Kepler, etc.Most recent version of the Index (the 20th) was published in

1966!

The Council of Trent• Pope Paul III saw need for reform • The Council of Trent met three times over three decades• Stopped some spread of Protestant Reformation

• By 1650 at least half of all Protestants had reconverted!

Catholic Reforms (?)• No compromise with Protestants

• Mass still in Latin

• Idea that salvation required faith and good works kept

• Still sold indulgences, just limited the number you could buy each year

• Reformed the priesthood• Ended abuses of power and corruption within the clergy

• Established seminaries to educate priests

• Strongly supported papal power and strengthened the authority of the Pope

The Society of Jesus• Founded by Ignatius of Loyola after he was wounded in

battle• Made vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the Pope

and Church• Insisted on high levels of education for the clergy, hoping this

would deal with the issues in the Church • Known for work in education, intellectual research, cultural

pursuits, missionary work, and promotion of social justice• Boston College is home to one of the world’s largest Jesuit

communities!

F.Y.I.

Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope!

The Inquisition• Intended to stop heresy

• Heresy: opinions that differed from those of the Church

• Inquisitors could remove priests from office, not allow certain things to be said or printed, call in help from armies, and punish heretics• Only pope could pardon, didn’t happen often

• Countries asked to help with Inquisition• France refused• Spain very involved• Burnings common throughout Italy, especially in Rome

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Quick Questions!

1. In what ways did the Council show the desire for reform within the Catholic Church?

2. How did the decisions made by the Council of Trent put the Catholic Church in a better position to combat Protestantism?

Results of the Reformation

• Christianity divided • Growing doubt about Church amongst common

people• Individualism and secularism grew • Over 100 years of religious warfare began• Germany politically weakened

• (Remember Emperor sided with the Church and the Princes sided with Luther)

• Pope’s power increased through Catholic Reformation

The Spread of Religion Worldwide

(2003)