Week 12 the reformation and counter reformation (western civilization)

Dominance of the Church

• About 1 in 75 people belonged to the Church as a priest, monk, nun, or lay order member

• The Church supervised births, marriages, contracts, wills, and deaths

• All law was understood to be God’s law, enforced through the Church

Catholic Doctrine

• Spiritual salvation required the intervention of the Church

• Sacraments (performed by priests) were necessary for avoiding hell

• Without sacraments, one's soul was doomed

Purgatory (background on Catholicism)

• Souls avoiding hell went to purgatory, a place of purification through fire

• Most souls spent years or centuries there before reaching heaven

Indulgences (background on Catholicism)

• Indulgence certificates granted forgiveness similar to confession and penance

• Believed to reduce or eliminate time in purgatory

• Became a major target of reformers

Corruption in the Late Medieval Church

• Renaissance popes behaved like secular nobles

• Many lived openly with concubines, had children, and passed on Church offices

• Monastic orders grew wealthy—monasteries owned ~20% of Western land

• Perception: the Church was luxurious, corrupt, and spiritually compromised

Martin Luther & the Protestant Reformation

• German monk who challenged the Catholic Church

• Wrote the 95 Theses (1517) criticizing the pope and Church authority

• Opposed corruption, especially the sale of indulgences (paying money for forgiveness)

• Argued that salvation comes by faith alone, not by Church rituals or practices

• Condemned the abuses of power by the clergy

• His movement caused a permanent split in Christianity, creating multiple new denominations

Catholic Doctrine

• Salvation comes through:

  • Faith in God

  • Good works (charity, moral deeds, donations, endowments)

  • Sacraments administered by the Church

• Belief that good works help merit entry into heaven

• Church mediates salvation through priests and rituals

Lutheran Doctrine

• Salvation by faith alone (sola fide)

• Good works do not earn salvation — humans are too flawed to “deserve” heaven

• Good works are a result of faith, not a cause of salvation

• No need for Church mediation → Scripture alone is the final authority (sola scriptura)

Luther’s Core Beliefs

• Salvation comes from grace — God’s unconditional love and forgiveness

• Faith alone (not good works or sacraments) makes salvation possible

• Only two sacraments matter: baptism and communion, because Christ clearly instituted them in the New Testament

• The priest is a guide, not a gatekeeper who controls access to salvation

• Believers should read the Bible directly, not rely on priests to interpret it

• Used the printing press to spread his ideas

• Translated the Bible into German, stopping the exclusive use of Latin

John Calvin and Calvinism 

• Jean calvin a french lawyer exiled for his sympathy with protestantism 

• Settled in Geneva, switzerland 1536

• In Geneva, Calvin began work on Christian theology and soon formed close ties with the City Council

• The result of his work was Calvinism, a distinct Protestant denomination that differed in many ways from Lutheranism

The Calvinist Doctrine

• Predestination: God determined every soul’s fate before time; “the elect” are those chosen for salvation; free will is essentially an illusion.

• Lifestyle Expectations: Calvinists lived with strict discipline; followed biblical rules; studied Scripture; avoided worldly pleasures; practiced temperance; worked hard; behaved orderly within society.

• Financial Success: Seen as a sign of God’s favor; prosperity was the natural result of discipline and hard work; contributed to the idea of the Protestant work ethic.

Calvinist Coup in Switzerland (Geneva, 1555)

• Background: Geneva had been a mix of Catholic and Lutheran influences, with significant internal tension between competing religious and political factions.

• Calvin’s Influence: John Calvin, having fled persecution, settled in Geneva and advanced his vision of a strictly disciplined, “godly city” built on Reformed (Calvinist) principles.

• Rising Opposition: By 1555, a faction known as the Libertines resisted Calvin’s strict moral discipline and the authority of the church over daily life.

• The Coup: With the backing of the city council and the militia, the Calvinists defeated the Libertines—consolidating Calvinist political and religious authority in Geneva.

Aftermath & Governance:

• Consistory: A body of Calvinist ministers who monitored and scrutinized the moral behavior of citizens, attempting to shape Geneva into a model Christian community.

• Moral Policing: Individuals were summoned for a wide range of “sins,” including drunkenness, gambling, illicit luxury, and other perceived moral failings.

• Pedagogical Role: The system aimed not just to punish but to educate citizens into correct, disciplined Christian living.

The Calvinist Spread

• Huguenots (France): French Calvinists who embraced Reformed theology; often persecuted by the Catholic monarchy, leading to violent conflicts such as the French Wars of Religion.

• Scotland (Presbyterians): Led by John Knox, Scotland adopted a Calvinist-inspired Church structure based on elders (presbyters) rather than bishops.

• Puritans (England & New World): English Calvinists who sought to “purify” the Church of England of remaining Catholic elements. Many migrated to North America to establish a model Christian community based on strict moral discipline (e.g., Massachusetts Bay Colony).

Henry VIII and the Break from Rome

• Wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon; the Catholic Church refused.

• Married Anne Boleyn in defiance in 1531.

• Motivated the creation of a separate English church.

Act of Supremacy (1534)

• Declared Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

• Formally separated England from the Catholic Church.

• Paired with the Act of Succession to legitimize the new religious order.

Characteristics of the Early Anglican Church

• King at the top of the church hierarchy.

• Doctrines and rituals remained similar to Catholicism.

• Henry seized Catholic lands and properties, increasing royal wealth and power.

Early Catholic Response to Protestantism

• Initial stance: no major reaction to Protestant critiques.

• 1536: Pope Paul III ordered an investigation into church abuses (corruption, clerical illiteracy, absentee bishops).

• Report acknowledged problems but left core doctrine unchanged.

Holy Office / Roman Inquisition (1542)

• Established to root out heresy, especially Protestantism.

• Had authority to interrogate, torture, and execute suspects.

• Created the Index of Forbidden Books to limit access to “dangerous” ideas.

• Prohibited Bible translations into vernacular languages.

Council of Trent (1545–1563)

• Major church council convened to address Protestant criticisms.

• Reaffirmed Catholic doctrine (faith + works, sacraments, authority of the pope).

• Implemented reforms to address abuses (education of clergy, discipline, oversight).

Ignatius of Loyola & the Origins of the Jesuits

• Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), a Spanish knight.

• Injured in battle; during recovery he read devotional books about Christ and the saints.

• These readings inspired his spiritual transformation and led to the founding of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

• Loyola emphasized discipline, spiritual exercises, and absolute obedience to the Church.

Jesuit

• Jesuits saw themselves as soldiers of the pope, offering both physical and spiritual defense of the Catholic faith.

• Dedicated to combating Protestantism and heresy on a global scale.

• Their mission stressed personal holiness, rigorous training, and intellectual strength

• Jesuits gained influence because they closely engaged with the “common people.”

• Their work included preaching, teaching, and direct involvement in communities.

• This made them more relatable and effective than many other religious orders.

Expansion and Political Influence

• At Loyola’s death in 1556: more than 1,000 Jesuits.

• Many served as powerful advisors to Catholic monarchs, guiding policies against heresy.

• They played a central role in the Catholic Reformation’s revival of discipline and doctrinal defense.

Education and Missionary Work

• Jesuits founded a vast network of schools and universities.

• By 1600, Jesuit schools educated around 250,000 students—a major force in shaping Catholic intellectual life.

• Active missionaries across the world:

  • Japan (1549)

  • China (1552)

• Their missions blended cultural study with evangelization, influencing global Christianity.

Catholic Belief on Salvation

• Salvation comes through a combination of:

  • Sacraments

  • Faith in God

  • Good works

• Good works include:

  • Acts of kindness and charity

  • Gifts or donations to the Church

  • Leaving money or land to the Church in one’s will

• These deeds help “merit” a person’s admission into heaven within Catholic theology.

lutheranism

• Salvation does not come from good works.

• Comes solely from grace — God’s limitless love and forgiveness.

• Achieved through faith alone (“justification by faith”).

• Human effort cannot earn salvation.

Calvinism

• Predestination: God has already chosen the elect who will be saved.

• Free will is considered an illusion — human beings cannot change their fate.

• Salvation is predetermined “before time itself began.”

• Strong emphasis on moral discipline and living as signs of being among the elect.

Anglicanism (Church of England)

• The king or queen is the head of the Church (not the pope).

• Maintained doctrines and rituals very similar to Catholicism.

• Emerged from political conflict (Henry VIII), not theological revolt.

• Many English monarchs kept Catholic-leaning beliefs despite the break with Rome.

Counter-Reformation: Early Catholic Response

• 1536: Pope Paul III commissioned a report on reforming abuses in the Church.

  • Problems identified: corruption, clerical illiteracy, absentee bishops.

  • Doctrine remained unchanged despite the findings.

• The investigation confirmed major issues but the Church initially made no doctrinal changes.

The Holy Office / Roman Inquisition (1542)

• Created to search out and suppress heresy.

• Targeted Protestantism as a primary threat.

• Had power to interrogate, torture, and prosecute accused heretics.

• Key tool for enforcing Catholic orthodoxy during the Counter-Reformation.

Religious Wars (Catholics vs. Protestants)

• By 1560, Protestantism had become a permanent part of Europe’s religious landscape.

• Even hopeful Catholics gave up on reclaiming Protestants through persuasion, propaganda, or evangelization.

• Across Europe, a patchwork of peace treaties attempted to control conflict.

• Despite these treaties, intolerance dominated—violent clashes, persecution, and deep polarization defined the era.

Why Religion Was So Divisive in Early Modern Europe

• Religion was effectively “owned” by princes and nobles—local rulers controlled the church within their territories.

• A territory’s religion was tied to the ruler’s faith; religious confession was linked to loyalty or disloyalty to political authority.

• Priests often served as important royal or administrative officials, further intertwining church and state.

Hardened Doctrines: Why Compromise Became Impossible

• Lutheran Augsburg Confession (1530):

  • Official and public statement of Lutheran beliefs.

  • Defined Lutheran teaching on salvation, scripture, and the sacraments.

  • Clearly separated Lutheran doctrine from Catholicism, making reconciliation unlikely.

• Catholic Council of Trent (1545–1563):

  • Direct response to Protestant challenges and to the Augsburg Confession.

  • Reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, making it fixed, precise, and non-negotiable.

  • Hardened positions on sacraments, salvation, scripture, and papal authority.

The Little Ice Age (1500–1700)

• Europe experienced a major temperature drop, causing repeated bad harvests and starvation.

• Religious conflict overlapped with economic crisis, worsening instability.

• Europe was at war 90% of the time; the 17th century had only 4 years of peace.

• The Habsburgs, the dominant Catholic dynasty, were at war two-thirds of the time.

• Harshest conditions occurred from the 1570s to early 1700s.

France’s Religious Wars

• France saw the first major religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.

• At the time, France was one of Europe’s most powerful and populous states, with major cities, a strong economy, and large armies.

• The monarchy—under the Valois dynasty—was weak, struggling to maintain control.

• Powerful nobles limited royal authority, making France especially vulnerable to religious conflict.

Catholics in France: The Guise Family

• The Guise family was the most powerful Catholic noble house in France.

• Had Jesuit advisers and strong support from the king of Spain.

• Formed the Catholic League, an armed militia of devoted Catholics— including monks, townspeople, and soldiers.

• In 1562, a Guise nobleman sponsored a massacre of Huguenots, triggering decades of violent religious war.

Protestant Huguenots: The Bourbon Family

• The Bourbon family was the leading Protestant (Huguenot) noble house in France.

• Supported by a growing, economically dynamic middle class—merchants, lawyers, and prosperous townspeople.

• Huguenots made up about 10% of the population, and their numbers were rising.

• Strongest in the south, especially in Navarre, a small kingdom between France and Spain.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572)

• From 1562–1572, France saw repeated fighting between the Catholic League and Huguenot forces.

• A temporary truce formed for Prince Henry of Navarre’s marriage to Margaret de Medici.

• The event turned into a trap, leading to the massacre of about 2,000 Protestants in Paris.

• Triggered revenge massacres nationwide, resulting in roughly 20,000 additional deaths across France.

Spain (Catholic) and the Netherlands under Philip II

• Philip II (1556–1596) was a fiercely committed Catholic monarch and a major defender of Catholicism in Europe.

• His rule involved harsh, often tyrannical persecution:

  • Against non-Catholics

  • And even Catholics suspected of secretly practicing other faiths.

• Successfully imposed total religious control over Spanish society, especially targeting former Jewish and Muslim communities.

• Before Philip’s reign, large parts of Spain had long been under Muslim rule, shaping its diverse religious history.

Netherlands

• controlled the netherlands and forces its people to be catholic

• A collection of 17 territories ruled by Spain.

• Highly diverse society with multiple religious groups.

• Prosperous due to overseas trade and strong commercial networks.

• 1566: Spanish interference provoked Calvinist attacks on Catholic churches.

• Spain responded with the Inquisition, imposing even harsher control.

• Spanish Fury: Spanish troops mutinied during a bankruptcy crisis, unleashing violent chaos and weakening Spain’s power in the region.

England’s Protestant Identity Under Elizabeth I

• England was in a Protestant vs. Catholic struggle against Spain.

• Elizabeth I firmly supported the Anglican Church.

• Contrast: her sister “Bloody Mary” had persecuted Protestants and attempted to restore Catholicism.

• England supported Protestant rebels against Spanish rule across Europe.

Conflict with Spain: Privateers and the Spanish Armada

• Sir Francis Drake acted as a privateer—an English crown-approved pirate—attacking Spanish ships, ports, and New World possessions.

• Spain controlled vast colonial wealth, making it a prime target.

• 1588: Spain launched the Spanish Armada of 132 ships, equipped with cannons and thousands of soldiers, aiming to invade England and restore Catholic control.

• The Armada was defeated in the English Channel by England’s smaller, more maneuverable fleet—a major Protestant victory.

30yrs war

• Conflict began as a war between Protestant vs. Catholic states within the Holy Roman Empire.

• Expanded into a wider European power struggle involving major states:

  • Catholic side: Habsburg Austria, Habsburg Spain

  • Protestant side: Several German Protestant princes, Sweden, Denmark

  • France (Catholic!) joined the Protestant side for political reasons—to weaken the Habsburgs.

• One of the deadliest conflicts in European history.

• deaths of 20–40% of the population in affected regions.

• Marked by extreme brutality, mass starvation, disease, and devastation.

• Produced some of the worst violence and suffering

Defenestration of Prague (1618)

• Protestant nobles in Bohemia attempted to murder two Catholic imperial officials by throwing them out of a window (defenestration).

• Triggered by Ferdinand II (Habsburg Emperor), who demanded that all of Bohemia abandon Protestantism and convert to Catholicism.

• The Bohemian Diet (assembly of nobles) refused this order.

• Their act of defiance—defenestrating the emperor’s emissaries—sparked the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War.

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

• Ended the Thirty Years’ War after decades of destruction; all sides were exhausted and financially drained.

• Granted religious freedom to both Catholics and Protestants within the Holy Roman Empire.

• Established the principle of state sovereignty—each state could govern its own territory without outside interference.

• Marked the birth of the modern international system, where sovereign states interact through diplomacy and treaties.

• Redrew major European boundaries, reshaping political power across the continent.

Effects of the Reformations and Religious Wars

• The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) ended the Thirty Years’ War after all sides became exhausted and deeply in debt.

• The wars caused millions of deaths, and despite peace treaties, intolerance largely continued.

• European states emerged more focused on centralization and building strong military power.

• Power and wealth shifted toward the Atlantic seaboard—especially England, the Netherlands, and France.

• Governments imposed stricter order and control, cracking down on religiously inspired unrest.

• A new political system emerged in which kings claimed absolute power, laying foundations for absolutist monarchies.

The Rise of Absolute Monarchs post religious wars

• After the religious wars, European rulers sought total centralized power to prevent further chaos.

• Absolute monarchs claimed unquestioned authority over law, religion, taxation, and the military.

The Sun King: Louis XIV (France)

• Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715) is the classic example of an absolute monarch.

• Nicknamed the Sun King — symbolizing that all power radiated from him.

• Built the palace of Versailles to control the nobility and showcase royal power.

• Famous claim: “L’État, c’est moi.” (“I am the state.”)

Absolutism***

• A system in which the monarch holds absolute political power within the kingdom.

• The ruler claimed to act in the interest of preserving and protecting the rights and privileges of all subjects—even peasants.

• Medieval & Renaissance monarchs:

  • The king was “first among equals,” sharing real power with elite nobles.

  • Many nobles had as much or more practical authority than the king.

• 17th-century shift:

  • Monarchs developed strong centralized power, surpassing even the greatest nobles.

  • Royal bureaucracies expanded, with non-noble officials appointed to reduce noble influence.

  • Standing armies grew, requiring higher taxes and giving monarchs more control.

• Result: More real power and wealth flowed to the central government than ever before, laying the foundation for absolute monarchy.