Chapter 11

Christian Humanism

• Combo of Christian and Humanist beliefs in education

• Christian Humanists thought education would boost their faith and improve the Church, not separate from it.

Why were Germany and Switzerland centers of the Reformation?

Religious and political freedom promised by the movement directly benefited townspeople who felt underrepresented by local authority.

What were the abuses of the Clergy?

Concubinage

Maladministration

Financial greed

How did the Printing Press launch the Reformation?

Increased literacy and sophistication to the point where people questioned authority.

Modern Devotion

The Printing Press resulted in Thomas a Kempis’s book The Imitation of Christ which emphasized faith from within without the Church meddling

Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany

• Martin Luther was an Augustinian Monk who posted 95 theses of grievances on the church door against Catholicism, which kickstarted the Reformation.

• He believed in Justification by Faith, where salvation can only be achieved through a belief in God, NOT good works like in Catholicism.

• He was against the sale of indulgences because it commodified salvation

Lay control over Religious Life

The benefice system allowed ecclesiastical posts to be sold to priests and bishops without restricting them there. So they could profit from many posts w/o actually being there.

Indulgences were also sold in order to lesson ones time in purgatory

Stupid shit: A Saint at peace in the grasp of temptation

Engraving by Martin Schongauer that shows St. Anthony being physically attacked by demons.

Election of Charles V

• Charles I of Spain became Charles V as HRE

• Charles V was backed by 7 imperial electors, including Frederick Wise, who was Luther’s protector and founder of the university that he taught at.

• His vote got Charles to revive the German Supreme Court and Council of Regency to consult with electors (9 German princes) on major issues.

Luther’s Excommunication and the Diet of Worms

• Luther challenges the infallibility of popes and supports the exclusive reverence of the scripture (Leipzig Debate)

Made 3 pamphlets:

Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation which urged the princes to depoliticize the church

Babylonian Captivity of the church which argued that only the Baptism and Eucharist were valid sacrements

Freedom of a Christian which summarized Justification by Faith alone

Luther presented these views to the Diet of Worms and refused to recant them, so he was made an outlaw and permitted to be killed by anyone as per the Edict of Worms.

Spread of the Reformation

• The Reformation became mainstream—went from theologians to princes and magistrates.

• Many rulers began welcoming Lutheran preachers as allies.

• German protestant lands formed the Schmalkaldic League to fight against the Catholic emperor.

Peasants’ Revolt

Thomas Muntzer led a revolt against landlords and serfdoms in Luther’s name. Luther condemned it and believed it contradicts his views. his

Reformation Elsewhere

The prelude to the Reformation in Switzerland was a growing national identity through opposition of foreign mercenary aid and a desire for church reform from the Councils of Constance and Basel.

• Ulrich Zwingli, leader of the Swiss reformation, was against Swiss mercenaries; the sale of indulgences; clerical celibacy; and doing anything that wasn’t explicitly in the scripture.

• As a result Zurich became the center of the Swiss Reformation and one of the first examples of Puritanical Protestantism

The Marburg Colloquy

Ulrich’s similarities with Luther ended with his denial of consubstantiation (Jesus’s spirit coexisting with the food) and wanting a unified church and state.

Philip of Hesse invited both of them to his Castle in Marburg to talk things out but Luther left thinking Ulrich was a fanatic.

This signified how splintered the Protestants were.

• Anabaptists and Radical Protestants

Radical Protestants believed that Luther and Zwingli were going halfway, so they created their own factions:

Anabaptists:

• Heavily rejected infant baptism

• Refused to swear oaths

• Didn’t participate in secular governments

As a result of their beliefs, rebaptism as an adult became a capital offense and there were thousands of executions.

John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation

Founded by John Calvin and had influences in France, Netherlands and Scotland, which set up massive political resistance. It established itself in the region of Palatinate

Calvin believed in the concept of predestination, and a personal order to reorganize society according to God’s vision.

• Political consolidation of the Lutheran Reformation

Diet of Augsburg:

• Assembly of Protestants and Catholics to discuss religious divide

• Ordered all Lutherans to revert of Catholicism

This is where the Schmalkaldic League is created and the Augsburg Confession is the banner. Stalemates with the Emperor.

Expansion of Reformation:

• German Lutherans formed judicial bodies that oversaw new Protestant churches

• Educational reforms started using humanist methods, the laity were retaught as well.

These changes made integration easier as well as weakened the Catholic Church

Peace of Augsburg (in conjunction with the Peace of Passau):

Agreement that the ruler of a land would determine its religion. This didn’t extend to Calvinists and Anabaptists, the latter of which was already separated.

• English Reformation to 1553

Background to English Reformation:

• Anti-papal- Maintaining rights of the crown against the pope (ex. Edward stopping Boniface’s efforts to end secular taxation of clergy)

• Anti-clerical- Payments to Rome were stopped and papal appointments were rejected in England

• Lollardy (lower and middle class) joined humanism and welcomed Protestant ideas.

• Henry VIII defends 7 sacraments from Luther and earns “Defender of the Faith” title from Pope Leo X

The King’s Affair

Henry VIII wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon because he believed God cursed their marriage so they wouldn’t have a male heir.

He wanted Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage but Catherine was the aunt of Charles V(the HRE) and he had just sacked Rome, so he was scared.

Reformation Parliament

Years of deliberation ended with the Act of Supremacy that declared Henry the head of church and state.

This set the precedent for Parliamentary power

• Henry’s Wives

• Anne Boleyn was beheaded for alleged adultery and treason

• Jane Seymour died after giving birth to Edward VI

• Anne of Cleaves was ugly so divorced

• Catherine Howard was beheaded for adultery

• Catherine Parr remarried him before he died

The King’s Religious Conservatism

Ten Articles of 1536

• Catholic doctrine (e.g strict clerical celibacy) still intact, w/ mild concessions made to Protestants

Six Articles Act of 1539

• Angry about growth in Protestantism

• Reaffirmed transubstantiation, and denied Eucharistic cup to the laity in addition to celibacy laws

Protestant Reformation under Edward VI

Act of Uniformity of 1549

• Iconoclasm as well as Thomas Cranmer’s “Book of Common Prayer” on all English churches.

Act of Uniformity of 1552

• Revised version of Cranmer’s book

• 42 article confession by Cranmer which accepted justification by faith, supremacy of scripture and rejection of transubstantiation and 7 sacraments.

These were all reversed by Mary I

Sources of Catholic Reform

Before the Protestant Reformation, there were internal proposals for church reform called the Catholic reformation

New orders and brotherhoods:

Ursulines

Jesuits:

• Founded by Ignatius of Loyola who was inspired by Christian classics

• Applied them to a program called The Spiritual Exercises

• Believe good catholics submit to the church

• Reverted many protestants in Austria and parts of Germany

Council of Trent as a buffer for the Counter Reformation

Pope Paul made a reform commission chaired by Contarini, who was very critical of fiscal policies.

Many bishops were forced to move back to posts and make good use of authority; fixed poverty

Basic Catholic doctrine was still affirmed (no cup for laity, 7 sacrements, celibacy, etc)

Social Significance of Reformation

Catholicism in the 15th Century:

• Clergy had legislative and political control

• Rapid ornamentalisn

• Exemption from tax or criminal code

Protestantism in the 16th Century:

• Iconoclasts whitewashed churches

• Clergy could marry and was taxed

• Openly praising saints was a crime

Reformation and Education

Jesuits as Educators- Ignatius insisted that interpreting the Bible should occur under the watch of theologians.

Genevan Academy- Founded by John Calving and successor Theodore Beza. They taught Calvinist refugee students that took their teachings all around Western Europe.

Humanists and Reformation- Erasmus thought the Reformation would threaten liberal arts. Protestant institutions held space for studia humanitatis.

Reformation and Changing role of Women

The Reformation strengthened women’s roles in the home and increased literacy, but reduced their independence and public religious roles.

Family life

Later marriages

Arranged marriages(w/ consent)

Larger household with avg 6-7 kids; death was commonplace

Birth control

Pulling out was condemned by church

Included sponges and acidic ointments

Wet nursing

• Hired to suckle a woman’s newborn

• Condemned by Church and physicians because it puts the baby at risk

• Supported by nobility because nursing delays pregnancy and they needed to reproduce fast

Loving families?

• Kids 8-13 were sent off to apprenticeships

• To them, equipping ur child for the world was the best kind of love

Miguel de Cervantes of Spain

Wrote Don Quixotes which shows a man going crazy believing he is a knight, then gets bested by his friend

It shows 2 necessary attitudes for a happy life

William Shakespeare

Wrote in Anglican England

Best known for his tragedies