Luther Leads the Reformation and the Spread of Protestantism

Vocabulary flashcards covering the Protestant Reformation, key figures such as Martin Luther and Henry VIII, and major concepts and events from the lecture text.

Indulgence

A pardon releasing a sinner from performing the penalty that a priest imposed for sins.

Reformation

A 16th-century movement for religious reform that led to the founding of Christian churches that did not accept the pope's authority.

Johann Tetzel

A friar who raised money to rebuild St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome by selling indulgences, giving people the impression that they could buy their way into heaven.

95 Theses

Formal statements written by Martin Luther attacking the "pardon-merchants," posted on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.

Excommunication

The taking away of a person's right to membership in the Church.

Charles V

The devout Catholic Holy Roman Emperor who summoned Martin Luther in 1521 to recant and issued the Edict of Worms.

Heretic

A person who holds beliefs that differ from official Church teachings.

Edict of Worms

An imperial order issued in 1521 declaring Martin Luther an outlaw and a heretic, forbidding anyone in the empire from giving him food or shelter, and ordering his books to be burned.

Frederick the Wise of Saxony

The German prince who sheltered Martin Luther in one of his castles for nearly a year after the trial at Worms, during which Luther translated the New Testament into German.

Lutheran

A member of a separate religious group formed by Martin Luther and his followers instead of continuing to seek reforms within the Catholic Church.

Protestant

Originally, one of the German princes who signed a protest in 1529 against an agreement to join forces against Luther's ideas; later applied to Christians belonging to non-Catholic churches.

Peace of Augsburg

A 1555 religious settlement agreed upon in the city of Augsburg stating that each German ruler would decide the religion of his state.

Annul

To set aside a marriage under Church law if proof could be found that it had never been legal in the first place.

Reformation Parliament

The English Parliament summoned by Henry VIII in 1529 that was asked to pass a set of laws ending the pope's power in England.

Act of Supremacy

A 1534 act approved by Parliament calling on people to take an oath recognizing Henry VIII's divorce and accepting Henry, not the pope, as the official head of England's Church.

Anglican

Relating to the Church of England set up by Parliament in 1559 under Queen Elizabeth I as the only legal church in England.

Calvinism

A Protestant religion based on the teachings of John Calvin