AP European History: The Reformation and Thirty Years War

Christian (Northern) humanism

Northern Renaissance movement applying humanist "ad fontes" scholarship to the Bible and Church Fathers; sought moral and spiritual renewal and Church reform from within

Ad fontes

"Back to the sources"; humanist method of returning to original texts (e.g., Greek New Testament)

Erasmus

Dutch Christian humanist; wrote Praise of Folly (1509) satirizing clerical corruption; published Greek New Testament (1516); stayed Catholic and opposed Luther on free will

Praise of Folly (1509)

Erasmus's satire mocking greedy clergy, superstition, and scholastic theologians

Philosophia Christi

Erasmus's "philosophy of Christ"; emphasis on inner piety and ethical living over ritual

"Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched"

Saying that humanist criticism of the Church helped prepare the ground for Luther's break

Thomas More

English humanist; wrote Utopia (1516); refused to accept the Act of Supremacy and was executed in 1535

Johannes Reuchlin

German humanist scholar of Hebrew; defended Jewish texts against burning

Printing press (c. 1450)

Gutenberg's invention that rapidly spread vernacular Bibles, pamphlets, and Luther's ideas

Pope Leo X

Medici pope (1513-21) of the Renaissance papacy; patron of the arts; funded St. Peter's Basilica partly through indulgence sales; excommunicated Luther

Renaissance papacy

Popes acting as Italian princes and art patrons, prioritizing wealth, politics, and patronage over spiritual leadership

St. Peter's Basilica

Rome church rebuilt in the early 1500s; its funding drove the indulgence campaign Luther attacked

Simony

Selling Church offices or sacred things

Pluralism

Holding multiple Church offices at the same time to collect their revenues

Absenteeism

Clergy collecting income from a Church post without residing there or performing duties

Nepotism (Church)

Giving Church offices to relatives

Great Schism (1378-1417)

Period with rival popes (Avignon vs. Rome) that damaged papal prestige

Conciliarism

Idea that a church council holds authority over the pope; faded after the Council of Constance

John Wycliffe

English theologian (d. 1384); said Scripture is the supreme authority, rejected transubstantiation and papal supremacy, supported an English Bible; followers called Lollards

Lollards

Followers of Wycliffe in England

Jan Hus

Bohemian reformer influenced by Wycliffe; burned for heresy at the Council of Constance (1415) despite a safe conduct; inspired the Hussite movement

Brethren of the Common Life / Devotio Moderna

Lay movement stressing personal piety and simple devotion; influenced Northern humanism

Martin Luther

German Augustinian monk and Wittenberg professor whose 95 Theses (1517) started the Protestant Reformation

Justification by faith alone (sola fide)

Luther's belief that salvation is a gift of God received through faith, not earned through good works

Sola scriptura

"Scripture alone"; the Bible is the only religious authority, not the pope or Church tradition

Priesthood of all believers

Luther's idea that all Christians have direct access to God and no clergy hierarchy is needed

Indulgence

Church document remitting temporal punishment for sin; sale of them triggered Luther's protest

Johann Tetzel

Dominican friar who aggressively sold indulgences in Germany to raise money for St. Peter's

Albert of Brandenburg

Archbishop of Mainz (pluralist) who borrowed from the Fuggers to buy his post; split indulgence revenue with Leo X

95 Theses (1517)

Luther's propositions attacking indulgences, posted/circulated Oct. 31, 1517, and spread widely by printing press

Leipzig Debate (1519)

Debate where Johann Eck pushed Luther into denying the infallibility of popes and councils

Address to the Christian Nobility (1520)

Luther treatise urging German princes to reform the Church and reject papal authority

Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)

Luther treatise attacking the sacramental system and reducing the sacraments (to baptism and Eucharist)

Freedom of a Christian (1520)

Luther treatise explaining salvation by faith alone and Christian freedom

Diet of Worms / Edict of Worms (1521)

Imperial assembly where Luther refused to recant; Charles V's edict declared him an outlaw and banned his writings

Charles V

Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor (1519-56) who ruled Spain, Netherlands, and Empire; fought Lutheranism, France, and the Ottomans; abdicated 1556

Frederick the Wise

Elector of Saxony who protected Luther at the Wartburg Castle

Wartburg Castle

Where Luther hid after Worms and translated the New Testament into German

Consubstantiation

Lutheran view that Christ is present "in, with, and under" the bread and wine

Transubstantiation

Catholic doctrine that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ

Peasants' War (1524-25)

German peasant uprising citing Luther's ideas; Luther sided with princes against them, tying Lutheranism to princely authority

Thomas Muntzer

Radical preacher who led peasants in the 1525 revolt

Twelve Articles

Peasants' demands in 1525, justified using Scripture

Diet of Speyer (1529)

Assembly where Lutheran princes "protested" the revoking of toleration; origin of the term Protestant

Augsburg Confession (1530)

Statement of Lutheran beliefs written by Philip Melanchthon

Schmalkaldic League

Alliance of Lutheran princes (1531) formed to defend against Charles V

Schmalkaldic War (1546-47)

War between Charles V and Lutheran princes; Charles won at Muhlberg but could not eliminate Lutheranism

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

Settlement allowing each German prince to choose Lutheranism or Catholicism; Calvinism excluded; subjects could emigrate

Cuius regio, eius religio

"Whose realm, his religion"; principle of Augsburg letting rulers determine their state's religion

Ulrich Zwingli

Swiss reformer in Zurich; saw the Eucharist as symbolic; disagreed with Luther at Marburg (1529); died in battle in 1531

Marburg Colloquy (1529)

Meeting where Luther and Zwingli agreed on much but failed to agree on the Eucharist

Anabaptists

Radical Protestants who practiced adult baptism, favored separation of church and state, and were persecuted by Catholics and Protestants

Menno Simons

Anabaptist leader whose followers became the Mennonites

Munster Rebellion (1534-35)

Radical Anabaptist takeover of a German city under John of Leiden; crushed, giving Anabaptists a violent reputation

John Calvin

French reformer in Geneva; wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536); taught predestination and strict moral discipline

Institutes of the Christian Religion

Calvin's systematic statement of Protestant theology (first ed. 1536)

Predestination

Calvinist belief that God has already chosen who will be saved (the elect)

Consistory (Geneva)

Body of pastors and elders that enforced moral discipline in Calvin's Geneva

John Knox

Founder of Scottish Presbyterianism, influenced by Calvin

Huguenots

French Calvinists

Puritans

English Calvinists who wanted to "purify" the Church of England of Catholic practices

Weber thesis

Max Weber's argument linking Calvinist work ethic to the rise of capitalism (debated)

Henry VIII

English king who broke with Rome (1534) to seek an annulment and male heir; made himself head of the Church of England

Catherine of Aragon

Henry VIII's first wife; aunt of Charles V; mother of Mary I

Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII's second wife; mother of Elizabeth I; executed 1536

Reformation Parliament (1529-36)

Parliament that passed laws separating England from Rome

Act of Supremacy (1534)

Made the English monarch supreme head of the Church of England

Act of Treason (Treasons Act, 1534)

Made denying the king's supremacy an act of treason; led to executions such as More and Fisher

Dissolution of the monasteries (1536-40)

Henry VIII closed monasteries and seized their wealth, enriching the crown and gentry

Six Articles (1539)

Doctrinal law under Henry VIII keeping many traditional Catholic beliefs

Thomas Cranmer

Archbishop of Canterbury who annulled Henry's marriage; author of the Book of Common Prayer

Thomas Cromwell

Henry VIII's chief minister who engineered the break with Rome and the dissolution

Edward VI

Boy king (1547-53) under whom England became more strongly Protestant; Book of Common Prayer introduced

Mary I (Bloody Mary)

Catholic queen (1553-58) who restored Catholicism and burned about 280 Protestants; married Philip II of Spain

Elizabeth I

English queen (1558-1603) who created a moderate religious settlement and defeated the Spanish Armada

Elizabethan Religious Settlement (1559)

Compromise: monarch as Supreme Governor, Book of Common Prayer, Thirty-Nine Articles; Protestant doctrine with Catholic-style structure

Thirty-Nine Articles (1563)

Statement of Anglican doctrine under Elizabeth I

Via media

"Middle way"; Anglicanism between Catholicism and Calvinism

Mary, Queen of Scots

Catholic claimant to the English throne; focus of plots against Elizabeth; executed 1587

Regnans in Excelsis (1570)

Papal bull excommunicating Elizabeth I and urging Catholics to resist her

Social effects of Reformation: education

Emphasis on literacy to read the Bible; new schools (Luther, Calvin's Geneva Academy); Catholics countered with Jesuit schools

Social effects of Reformation: family

Clerical marriage allowed; household as "little church" under patriarchal father; closing convents reduced women's options

Social effects of Reformation: labor

Monastic ideal rejected; work seen as a calling; fewer saints' days; poor relief shifted to civil authorities

Iconoclasm

Destruction of religious images and statues, often by Calvinists

Witch hunts (c. 1580-1650)

Peak of prosecutions in both Catholic and Protestant areas, amid religious and social stress

Catholic (Counter-) Reformation

Catholic Church's internal reform and response to Protestantism

Pope Paul III

Pope (1534-49) who approved the Jesuits, set up the Roman Inquisition (1542), and called the Council of Trent

Council of Trent (1545-63)

Council that reaffirmed Catholic doctrine and reformed Church practice

Council of Trent: affirmed doctrine

Faith and works for salvation; seven sacraments; transubstantiation; Scripture and tradition; purgatory; saints; clerical celibacy; Vulgate Bible

Council of Trent: reformed practice

Seminaries; bishops must reside in dioceses; ban on simony and pluralism; indulgence sales prohibited (indulgences not abolished)

Magisterium

Catholic Church's teaching authority to interpret Scripture and tradition

Index Librorum Prohibitorum

List of books Catholics were forbidden to read (first issued 1559)

Roman Inquisition (Holy Inquisition)

Church tribunal (1542) to root out heresy

Spanish Inquisition

Crown-controlled tribunal (est. 1478) targeting conversos, Moriscos, and Protestants

Ignatius Loyola

Spanish soldier who wrote the Spiritual Exercises and founded the Jesuits (1540)

Jesuits (Society of Jesus)

Disciplined order loyal to the pope, focused on education, missions, and countering Protestantism

Francis Xavier

Jesuit missionary to India, Southeast Asia, and Japan

Teresa of Avila

Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic who reformed her order

Baroque art

Dramatic, emotional, grand style (Bernini, Caravaggio, Rubens) used to inspire awe and promote Catholicism

Bernini

Baroque sculptor and architect (Ecstasy of St. Teresa; St. Peter's Square)