Reformation and Religious Wars

Indulgences

• Definition: Payments made to the Catholic Church that promised to reduce punishment for sins, either for oneself or for loved ones in purgatory.

• Historical Significance: The sale of indulgences sparked Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (1517) and ignited the Protestant Reformation.

Road to Salvation for Protestants

• Definition: The Protestant belief that salvation comes through faith alone (sola fide) rather than through Church rituals or indulgences.

• Historical Significance: This belief challenged Catholic teachings and became a core principle of Protestant denominations, reshaping European religious life.

Diet of Worms

• Definition: An imperial council held in 1521 where Martin Luther was asked to recant his writings but refused.

• Historical Significance: Luther’s refusal led to his excommunication and the solidification of the Protestant Reformation.

Protestant

• Definition: A follower of any Christian movement that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation.

• Historical Significance: The rise of Protestantism fractured the religious unity of Europe, leading to wars, reforms, and the growth of religious pluralism.

Peace of Augsburg

• Definition: A 1555 agreement allowing German princes to choose either Lutheranism or Catholicism for their territories.

• Historical Significance: It temporarily eased religious tensions in the Holy Roman Empire but left unresolved conflicts that later contributed to the Thirty Years’ War.

Council of Trent

• Definition: A series of Catholic Church meetings (1545–1563) that clarified doctrine and reformed church practices in response to Protestantism.

• Historical Significance: It strengthened the Catholic Counter-Reformation, revitalizing the Church and reaffirming core doctrines like the authority of the Pope.

Politiques

• Definition: Leaders who prioritized political stability over religious conformity, often compromising in religious conflicts.

• Historical Significance: Figures like Henry IV of France used politique strategies to end religious wars, promoting tolerance and national unity.

Edict of Nantes

• Definition: A 1598 decree by Henry IV of France granting religious tolerance to Huguenots (French Protestants).

• Historical Significance: It helped end decades of French religious wars and allowed coexistence between Catholics and Protestants.

Thirty Years’ War

• Definition: A series of conflicts (1618–1648) in Central Europe involving religious and political struggles between Catholics and Protestants.

• Historical Significance: It devastated much of Germany, led to major population loss, and shifted the balance of power in Europe.

Treaty of Westphalia

• Definition: The 1648 treaties that ended the Thirty Years’ War and recognized the sovereignty of states in the Holy Roman Empire.

• Historical Significance: It established the modern system of nation-states and the principle of religious tolerance for rulers to choose their territory’s religion.