THE REFORMATION

Comunicación y Gerencia

Key Questions on Martin Luther & his Impact

Early calls for reform– Babylonian Captivity (1309-1378) & Great

Schism (1378-1417) had damaged Papal prestige & power, leading more groups to question papal authority.

– Conciliarists: believed church issues should be solved by councils of Cardinals.

Signs of Disorder• Pope’s authority called into question due to:

– Babylonian Captivity– Great Schism– Increase in individual piety & devotion to the church

• Church practices also questioned:

1. Clerical immorality• “Stories of greedy priests, lustful nuns, and lecherous monks”

2. Clerical ignorance• Sale of Indulgences & Church Hierarchy lived like Aristocrats

3. Clerical absenteeism and pluralism

Absenteeism and Pluralism• Absenteeism

– Church officials in Rome held many offices (pluralism) in England, France, or Germany (can’t be in 4 places at once)

– Received income from all offices, but rarely performed duties• Effect:

– Resentment towards Catholic Church– Increase in nationalism among Countries

• RESULT: high level of ANTICLERICALISM

Martin Luther

Unit 2: Day 1 & 2

Background• 1483 – 1546

• German

• Augustinian priest, focused on charity and devotion to poor

• Professor of Scriptures at Wittenberg University

Questions to Consider

• What was Luther’s core theological premise?

• What are his other major ideas?

• What most appealed to:– peasants,– business/merchants, – the educated, – women

Luther Chronology

• 1518 - Luther refuses to recant• 1519 - Debate with Johann Eck (one of the great Catholic

theologians) at Leipzig. • 1520 - Published his theology of reform.

– Popes & Church officials could err – Secular rulers should reform church

• 1520 - Excommunicated by Pope Leo X • 1521 - Diet of Worms (1521)

– Called by Charles V (emperor of Holy Roman Empire)– Luther refuses to recant

• Edict of Worms: Luther outlawed as a heretic by the HRE.

Core Beliefs

• “faith alone, grace alone, scriptures alone”

• Salvation & Justification achieved through faith

• Faith is a gift of God’s grace, not from human efforts

• God’s word can only be found in Scripture

Luther’s Beliefs

• Confessions of Augsburg (1530) – Salvation through faith alone– Bible is the sole authority– “Priesthood of all believers”: Church consists of entire Christian

community

• Religious Protest - Focus on the individual– Individuals should interpret Scriptures

• 2 sacraments– Baptism & Communion

• Simple Churches• Northern Germany

Challenges the Church• Indulgences

– Pope Leo X commissioned sale to finance Rome’s beautification

– Johann Tetzel ran sale

• 95 Theses– Wrote letter to Archbishop– Criticized the indulgence sale– Negative effects on

repentance, penance, and works of charity

• Printing Press– Theses reprinted in Latin and

German– Luther’s ideas spread quickly woodcut from the early Reformation criticizing

sale of indulgences by portraying church as rapacious bird

Zwingli & Calvin

Unit 2: Day 3

Ulrich Zwingli

• 1484 – 1531

• Switzerland

• Humanist, priest

Core Beliefs• Theocracy

– Religion dominates the state

• Religious Protest: Focus on moral reform of church & community– Individuals should interpret Scriptures

• Community of Believers & Ministers

• Oppose Indulgences– Emphasized good works to achieve Salvation

• 1 sacrament– Baptism

John Calvin

• 1509 – 1564

• French

• Humanist lawyer, and priest.

• Institutes of the Christian Religion

Core Beliefs

• Theocracy– Religion dominates the state

• Focus on moral reform of church & community– Individuals should interpret Scriptures

• Community of Believers, Ministers, Group of Elders

• Oppose Indulgences– Not necessary

• 1 sacrament– Baptism

Calvin’s Beliefs

• Institutes of the Christian Religion– God had absolute sovereignty & omnipotence – Man is completely weak– Man did not have free will

• Predestination• Man & Women cannot actively work to achieve salvation

Indulgences useless.

• Geneva Consistory– Council of laymen & pastors regulated citizens’ life– Had authority to ban, exclude, and torture

Spread of Protestantism

• “Hard work, well done, is pleasing to God”

• Calvinism propelled Protestantism to international level– Presbyterians in Scotland– Huguenots in France– Puritans in England & New England

ANABAPTISTS

• Voluntary association with State

• Political Protest over church & state relationship

• Ministers chosen by community

• Rejected Trinity

Spread of Protestant Religion

Comparison:Luther, Zwingli, Calvin

Complete a Venn Diagram

• Focus on the following areas– Role of Scriptures– Indulgences– Church & State Relation– Salvation– Region– Communion– Church Governance

• Luther

• Calvin• Zwingli

Church of England vs. Catholic Reformation

Unit 2: Day 4

Henry VIII

• r. 1509-1547

• King of England

• Married 6 times

CONSEQUENCES• What were the religious and

political implications of Luther's reforms?

• What were the causes of the Peasants' Revolt of 1525-1526? What was Luther's position in this upheaval? Why did he take that position?

• Where was Lutheranism most successful in the 16c?

• What were the provisions of the Peace of Augsburg of 1555? How was it a religious compromise? What issues were left unresolved?

Conditions in Germany• What were the social, economic,

& political conditions in Germany that contributed to the enormous success of Lutheranism?

• What role did the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, play in the Protestant Reformation?

• Why did the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, in collaboration with the Pope, issue the Edict of Worms in 1521? What were the implications of this move?

• Why did many German political authorities [especially the nobility] support Luther's cause? Why was their support so essential to his success?

Spread of Protestantism

• Spread of Lutheranism– Many German states in the North turned to Lutheranism

• Many German princes were politically motivated: they could now escape the authority of the Catholic Church and confiscate church lands for the state’s benefit.

• The southern part of Germany largely remained Catholic

– Denmark and Sweden became Lutheran states as well– Lutheranism did not spread much beyond northern Germany

and Scandinavia.– This was unlike Calvinism (see below) that spread throughout

western Europe and parts of the New World

Spread of Protestantism• Emperor Charles V sought to stop

Protestantism & preserve hegemony of Catholicism– Charles was like a medieval emperor

trying to maintain religious unity in Europe.

– He was now allied with the pope in trying to stamp out heresy

• Couldn’t stop protestantism because preoccupied with Turkish threat in Hungary dynastic struggle with Francis I of France.– Between 1521 & 1530 Charles was

away from the HRE, much of the time spent in Italy

Spread of Protestantism

• Peasants’ War (1524-1525) or German Peasants Revolt– Twelve Articles,1525: peasants demanded end of serfdom and tithes, and other

practices of feudalism that oppressed the peasantry (e.g. hunting rights)• Many of these peasants were inspired by Luther

• Ironically, Luther’s views on the peasant movement were somewhat conservative– Since God’s realm was not a worldly one, he believed that

people should obey their political authorities.– Sympathized with some of the complaints, but disgusted with the

violence– He admonished German princes to violently stamp out the revolt

• As many as 100,000 peasants died– Both Catholic & Lutheran forces fought them

Spread of Protestantism• Northern Germany

– League of Schmalkalden, 1531• Formed by newly Protestant (Lutheran) princes to defend themselves against Charles

V’s drive to re-Catholicize Germany.• Francis I of France allied with the League (despite being Catholic)

• Habsburg-Valois Wars: five wars between 1521 and 1555 between France and the Hapsburgs– France tried to keep Germany divided (though France Catholic)– This conflict played an important role in retarding unification of the

German states– Catholic unity in Germany never again occurred

• Charles was finally victorious over the League in 1547– However, by that time Lutheranism had spread and taken hold in much

of Central Europe.– Charles by the 1550s was forced to give up on restoring Catholicism in

all the German states in the empire.

Spread of Protestantism

• Peace of Augsburg (1555)– Temporarily ended the struggle in Germany over Lutheranism– Provisions:

• Princes in Germany could choose either Protestantism or Catholicism• Cuius regio, eius religio—“whose the region, his the religion.”

– People allowed to move.– Resulted in permanent religious division of Germany– Essentially reaffirmed the independence of many German states– This division stunted German nationalism; Germany was not

unified as a state until 1871.