Unit 2

Where did the papacy move in 1309 and why was it unusual?

To Avignon, France; unusual because popes traditionally lived in Rome at the Vatican.

Context of Middle Ages

There was a series of bitter and ongoing disputes between Roman Catholic Popes and European kings, especially the king of France

What caused the move of the papacy to France ?

The King of France pressured the new pope to move, consolidating royal influence over the church.

What was the impact of the Avignon papacy on the church?

Popes focused on power, wealth, and personal satisfaction rather than spiritual well-being which led to them moving back to Rome under the leadership of a new pope.

• Led to fighting and tension to occur

What happened when the papacy moved back to Rome in 1377?

Conflict intensified; another pope was elected in Avignon, causing a division of churches with two rival popes.

By the 16th century, what did most Europeans believe about the catholic church

That it was corrupt and more concerned with power than guiding the faithful.

What corrupt practices was the Catholic Church involved in during the 1500s?

Simony (buying and selling of church offices) and selling indulgences (buying God’s mercy).

What happened to the catholic church by 1500?

The catholic church had gotten tangled up in political matters and it accumulated a lot of wealth and engaged in corrupt practices

Simony

The buying and selling of church offices

Indulgences

purchasing mercy from god instead of confessing sins

Doctrine of Purgatory

after death, you went neither to heaven nor to hell, but rather into a kind of middle space called purgatory

Purgatory

The soul had to be purified in Purgatory before entering heaven; the time spent there depended on one’s actions in life. Indulgences, which reduced time in Purgatory, were sold to finance the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Martin luther

He realized that people are forgiven by God for free, not by doing good deeds or acts of penance. Salvation is a gift from God’s grace, not something you earn.

Priesthood of all Believers

It’s the idea that every Christian can talk to God directly without needing a priest. It became popular because people lost trust in the church leaders after all the conflicts and corruption.

95 Theses

Martin Luther’s document listing grievances against the Catholic Church, intended to spark scholarly debate. Led to his denouncing

How did the printing press impact the spread of Luther’s ideas?

It quickly spread the 95 Theses throughout the German states, fueling widespread support.

Diet of worms

Luther was ordered to recant his writings but refused, standing by his beliefs.

John Calvin

A Protestant minister in Geneva who systematized Protestant doctrine in The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

two major doctrines associated with John Calvin

Predestination and Theocracy.

Predestination

The belief that God has already chosen who will be saved and who will be damned.

Elect

those who God had chosen to save and could never lose their salvation

Theocracy

The bible was the rule of law in that city

How did Calvin’s views support economic shifts in Europe?

He taught that wealth from hard work was a sign of God’s favor, encouraging growth in cities like Geneva and Amsterdam.

Negative aspect of Calvin’s theocracy

Dissenters could be executed;

Example: Michael Servetus was burned for disagreeing on baptism.

Anabaptists

Believed in the reformation principles that Luther and Calvin did but separated from them on the question of baptism. Aka only adults should be baptized not children because they couldn't profess their believes in Christianity

Impact of Anabaptists on Protestanism

Their beliefs contributed to the splintering of Protestantism

Reasons for religious reformation

Reformers, church corruption, and the printing press.

Why didn’t Wycliffe and Hus have the same impact as Luther in reformation?

They didn’t have the printing press to spread their ideas widely.

How did the printing press change the religious landscape of Europe?

It allowed Luther’s ideas to spread quickly and helped others read the Bible in their own language

Why did Luther want the Bible translated into German?

So that regular people could read it for themselves, not just priests and bishops.

Why was the Catholic Church against vernacular Bibles?

They lost control over interpreting the Bible and could no longer easily influence people.

Vernacular Bibles

Bibles translated into local languages like French, English, and German.

How did the printing press threaten the Catholic Church?

It made it impossible for the Church to fully stop the spread of new ideas and translations of the Bible.

Religious reform

challenge the authority of the church and state authority as well

Anglican Church

England’s Protestant church, started by King Henry VIII because the Pope wouldn’t let him divorce.

Catholic/Angelican church similarities

kept many Catholic traditions and practices.

Puritans

Calvinists who wanted to remove all Catholic influences from the Church of England.

What did the Puritans cause

Their disagreements with the monarchy (James I and Charles I) helped lead to the English Civil War.

Puritans’ view on religion and government

Like Calvin, they believed church and state should be closely connected.

How did Anabaptists view the relationship between church and state?

They believed in keeping church and state completely separate.

Why did Anabaptists get into trouble with the government?

They refused to serve in the military because they believed their loyalty belonged to God, not the state.

Religious situation in France during the first half of the 1500s

Most French people were Catholic.

How did Protestantism spread into France, and what form did it take?

Protestantism spread via the printing press around 1560, and Calvinism was the main form. French Calvinists were known as Huguenots.

What tension arose from the Huguenots in France?

Half of the French nobility became Huguenots, demanding rights and recognition, angering the Catholic majority.

Charles IX’s early reign

His mother, Catherine de’ Medici, ruled in his place and was staunchly Catholic, opposing Huguenot rights.

What event sparked the French Wars of Religion?

The Massacre of Vassy (1562), where Huguenots at a worship service were slaughtered by orders of the Duke of Guise.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572)

Catherine de’ Medici, influenced by the Guise family, ordered the mass killing of Huguenots attending the wedding of her Catholic daughter to Henry of Navarre (Huguenot leader). It lasted 3 days.

How did Henry of Navarre survive the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre?

He temporarily converted to Catholicism to save his life, later returning to Calvinism.

War of the Three Henrys

A conflict among Henry III (king), Henry of Guise (ultra-Catholic who believed Henry III was not catholic enough), and Henry of Navarre (Huguenot leader) for control of France.

How did the War of the Three Henrys end

Henry III assassinated Henry of Guise, then allied with Henry of Navarre. After Henry III was assassinated in 1589, Henry of Navarre took the throne as Henry IV.

The Edict of Nantes (1598)

established Catholicism as the state religion but granted Huguenots the right to worship freely without persecution.

Habsburgs

Dynasty that ruled Spain during its religious wars

What Ottoman-related troubles was Spain facing around 1556, and how were they resolved?

After the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, they aimed to expand into central and eastern Europe. By 1556, Spain, under Philip II, faced the Ottoman threat but, with help from the King of Poland and the Duke of Lorraine, successfully repelled Ottoman forces and ended their expansion into Europe.

Philip II of Spain’s religious goal

To restore Catholic unity across Europe by suppressing Protestantism, especially in the Netherlands and England.

How did the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule?

Dutch Calvinists engaged in iconoclasm (destroying Catholic images) causing Phillip to order prosecution on them, and under William of Orange, they declared independence in 1581.

Spain’s “English problem”

Elizabeth I of England supported Dutch Protestants and attacked Spanish merchant ships. Spain retaliated by sending the Spanish Armada (1588), but England defeated it.

significance of Spain’s defeat by England

It ensured a Protestant foothold in Europe.

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

Princes in the Holy Roman Empire could choose Catholicism or Lutheranism for their territories.

• Context for the thirty years war

Why was the Peace of Augsburg problematic by the time of the Thirty Years’ War?

only recognized Catholicism and Lutheranism, excluding Calvinism, causing tensions.

Tensions under Ferdinand

Ferdinand became king of the largely Calvinist territory of Bohemia and launched a program of re-Catholicizing the region, which angered the Calvinist nobility leading to the Defenestration of Prague

Defenestration of Prague (1618)

Protestant nobles threw two Catholic officials out a window in Bohemia. The officials survived so Catholics said they survived due to intervention of Mary. Protestants said that it was because of Manure. Caused the thirty years war

What happens during the transition of phases

Motivations for fighting go from religious to political

Four phases of the Thirty Years’ War

Bohemian phase, Danish phase, Swedish Phase, French Phase

Bohemian phase

Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II defeated Protestant forces led by Frederick V at the Battle of White Mountain, re-establishing Catholic dominance across the Holy Roman Empire.

Danish phase

King Christian IV of Denmark took up the Protestant cause, aided by an anti-Catholic, anti-Habsburg alliance with England, but despite support, the Catholics still won this phase.

Swedish phase

King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a military genius, led Protestant forces to major victories. Protestants also received financial help from Catholic France, marking the war’s shift from religious to political motivations (France wanted to weaken Habsburg power).

French Phase

Catholic France entered on the Protestant side, fighting against Spain to ensure the Habsburgs could not recover their dominance.

Peace of Westphalia

Treaty ended the war, recognized Calvinism, ended major religious wars in Europe, and weakened the Holy Roman Empire by strengthening individual state rulers.

Catholic reformation

A movement where the Catholic Church reformed itself in response to Protestant challenges, aiming to stop the spread of Protestantism.

Jesuit Order

A male Catholic order founded by Ignatius of Loyola, focused on education, missionary work, and combating Protestantism through the Roman Inquisition.

Roman Inquisition

Established to root out heretics among the church

Index of prohibited book

listed forbidden books, including works by Protestant reformers, Galileo, and Erasmus.

Ursalines

A female Catholic order focused on educating girls and missionary work.

Saint Teresa of Avila

Reformed the Carmelite order to emphasize poverty, prayer, and simplicity.

Council of Trent

Called by Pope Paul III to address Protestant complaints and reform the Catholic Church.

What were the Protestant complaints addressed at the Council of Trent?

Simony, immorality among clergy, and the sale of indulgences.

What were the major reforms of the Council of Trent?

• Suppressed simony

• Reaffirmed priestly celibacy

• Reformed the sale of indulgences

• Reaffirmed Catholic doctrines (faith + works, transubstantiation, seven sacraments, authority of Bible + Church tradition)

What was the result of the Council of Trent for the Catholic-Protestant split?

It made the split permanent

What were the main social hierarchies in the 16th century?

Class, religion, and gender.

How did the rise of the merchant class change social hierarchies?

Wealthy merchants could move into the upper class without owning land, but landownership still held prestige.

House of Lords/House of commons

In English Parliament, the upper house, the House of Lords, was reserved for the landed citizens while the lower house, the House of commons, was reserved for those without land, even if they were wealthy

Religious affect on social Hierarchy

Religious beliefs could raise or lower one’s social standing depending on local religious dominance.

• Persecution of Jews (everywhere) and Prosecution of Protestants (some places)

Gender in Social Hierarchy

Patriarchy dominated; women were expected to be subordinate, though rural women had slightly more equality.

Women Question

Debates over whether women were naturally inferior (Biblical) or simply lacked opportunities.(Philiosiphical)

• Debates stemed from the rise of philosophical thought during the renaissance and reformation

Women Debates in Church

Catholic church- Women cannot be priests but could be nuns instead

• No authority over a man

Protestant- Women are to be subservient to their husbands and be obedient and engage in charity

Anabaptist- Gave women positions of authority and allowed some to become preachers

How did cities regulate public morals after the Reformation?

City governments passed secular laws restricting things like prostitution, begging, and Carnival celebrations.

What were examples of public punishments for moral regulation?

Stocks (physical restraint in public) and charivari (noisy public shaming)

Leisure activities on the rise

Blood sports (boxing, jousting, cockfighting) and Saints’ Day festivals.

Witchcraft trials

Protestant and Catholics agreed that witchcraft was evidence of a pact with the devil and should be feared and distinguished

Who were the primary victims of witchcraft trials?

Mostly women, viewed as morally weaker and easier targets for Satan.

How did the Protestant Reformation influence the rise of Mannerism?

The Reformation revived religious fervor, inspiring a new wave of spiritual art called Mannerism around 1520–30.

Why was the term “Mannerism” originally an insult?

Critics said artists painted “in the manner of” Renaissance greats without matching their genius.

Main features of Mannerist art

Distorted figures, violated proportions, and intense emotional and spiritual expression.

El Greco

his paintings had distorted figures, ominous skies, muted colors, and heightened emotion (example: Laocoön).

Rise of Baroque

To merge classical Renaissance ideals with heightened religious emotion.

How did Baroque art differ from Mannerism?

Baroque art emphasized classical proportion, was highly emotional, dramatic, ornate, and detailed.

Baroque Artists

Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Peter Paul Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens

Greatest Baroque painter: The Elevation of the Cross

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

created the Colonnade at St. Peter’s Basilica and highly emotional sculptures.

Why did the Catholic Church embrace Baroque art?

To display their reformed doctrines with grandeur and to capture religious emotion in a clear, direct style after Protestant losses.