Unit 2: the Age of Reformation

The Catholic Church Pre-Reform

• Europeans were very pious and thus very critical

• complaints:

  • clerical immorality

  • papal tax collection

  • wealth of church execs + church spending

  • pluralism (holding more than one office at once)led to absenteeism as Italian higher-ups hired poor priests to handle their jobs for much less

    • worse in Germany bc no central gov. → gov. couldnt negotiate

  • clerical priveleges (didn’t have to serve, didn’t pay taxes) were cut down

  • urban leaders couldn’t choose high church offices

Martin Luther

• lawyer→ Augustinian priest + prof. of the Scriptures who propelled the Reformation bc of his anxiety about sin/ability to meet God’s demands

• “Faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone” - God’s grace gives us faith → salvation. God’s word is only from the Scriptures

Roman Catholic vs. Protestant thought

• salvation comes from faith + good works/Sacraments vs. salvation comes only from faith

• authority from Bible and traditional teachings vs. only from the Bible (everything needed a bible backing)

• hierarchy vs. fellowship of all believers

• most Christian life: monk or nun vs. everyone serves God in their calling

Internal Protestant Disagreements

• disagreed on Eucharist

  • Luther believed in transubstantiation but as an act of God, not the priest

  • Zwingli understood Christ’s presence as in spirit, not in the food

  • not resolved by Colloquy of Marburg (Protestants united)

Who liked Protestant ideas and why?

• educated people + humanists liked the advancement of Humanist reforms

• literate people liked the emphasis on the Scirpture

• those who resented the Church’s wealth and taxes liked that they would have no special privileges + pay taxes

Luther + the printing press

• books printed in German + pictures 4 illiterate people → ideas spread quickly

Political Reform of Protestantism in states

• Zwingli + Luther knew religious reform needed political power

  • Zwingli worked w/ the Zurich city council + other councils appointed Protestant pastors

  • Luther worked with authorities + believed secular rulers were divinely ordained to maintain order

• territory → Protestant if clergy was retaught, sponsored public sermons, church property confiscated

“Radicals”

• rejected unification and states

  • Anabaptists baptized adults

  • some liked in communally-owned property

  • religious tolerance vs. strict beliefs

• prosecuted/killed by Catholics + Protestants bc they brought disorder

German Peasants’ War

• increasingly bad conditions 4 peasants (rent went up, land was seized, etc)

  • Luther backed them until they rebelled (believed Scripture was unrelated to Earthly gains/justice + they would bring the end of civilized society)

  • w/ Luther’s support nobles crushed the rebellion + killed many

  • lay rulers were stronger after and the Reformation was less popular

  • Peasant conditions improved slightly

Protestant emphasis on marriage

• marriage was the only right remedy for lust

• Pastor’s wives embodied obedience and charity + considered inferior

• divorce was only allowed as a last resort

• Prostitution was made illegal bc wrong outlet for lust

• convents and monasteries were closed down (bc marriage is better!)

  • women lost a place where they could have their own power

Protestant Women

• Some women (ex. Argula von Grumbach)wrote religious works, but Luther’s idea of priesthood for all believers never caught on

• Women were not part of the clergy, but female city rulers made religious decisions just as men would

Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty

• marriage was used to expand their empire

  • HRE Frederick + Princess Eleonore of Portugal → lots of money

  • Son Maximillian + Mary of Burgundy → Netherland, Luxembourg, and the County of Burgundy

    • France wanted Burgundy → lots of war

  • Maximilliam’s kids married Ferdinand + Isabella’s kids, making grandson Charles V heir to most of Europe

    • Catholic Charles believed it was his duty to unit Christendom

Why Germans were Protestant

• many Germans adopted Protestantism bc:

  • would let them confiscate rich monasteries, shrines, and land

  • Luther appealed to national feeling

religious warring in Switzerland

• Some cantons in Switzerland were Protestant even though it was technically part of the HRE → Catholic

  • battles caused Zwingli’s death

  • treaty allowed each canton to choose religion in exchange for Switzerland giving up foreign alliances

Diet of Augsburg

• called by Charles V to stop religious division

• Protestant princes presented the Augsburg Confession (statement of faith)

  • Charles V did not accept + ordered return to Catholicism

  • Protestant territories in the HRE formed a military alliance, which Charles temporarily couldn’t respond to bc of the Habsburg-Valois wars

Peace of Augsburg

• Charles was initially winning the fighting in Germany

  • papacy + France were alarmed by his success (didn’t want him to become more powerful)→ papacy pulled troops and France funded the Lutherans

• Peace of Augsburg recognized Lutheranism, allowing local rulers to choose their religion

  • no freedom of religion → ppl had to convert or leave

  • Charles V abdicated and moved to a monastery bc of failure

Protestantism in Scandinavia 

• Denmark: Lutheran ideas spread quickly from Dutch scholars studying in Wittenberg → king + clergy broke w/ Catholic Church

• Norway/Iceland: Lutheranism was forced on an unwilling population

• Sweden: King Gustavus Vasa took control of church ideas + spending → Lutheran ideas spread, though no church conversion till later

Henry VIII and the Anglican Church

• broke w/ church bc he wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon (no male heir, in love with Anne Boleyn), but the Pope was her nephew → wouldn’t allow it

• head of English church via Parliamentary power

  • beheaded Thomas More + opps

  • Maintained Almost all Roman Catholic practices (except putting an English Bible in every church, as suggested by Thomas Cromwell, Arch. of Canterbury)

• Nationalization of church → money → Cromwell centralized + reformed bureaucracy → extra money went to deficits → efficient state with good economy

• Conversion of the English Church was met w/ equal resistance and acceptance

  • Pilgrimage of Grace - northern rebellion against the English church → ended in truce but leaders were killed

  • Irish rulers accepted new church while Catholic church was run underground (added religious tension to existing racial tension)

Edward VI

• Archbishop Thomas Cranmer simplified the liturgy, invited Protestant theologians to England, and wrote the first Book of Common Prayers

Mary Tudor

• Catholic daughter of Catherine

• reversed Henry VIII’s policies

• married Philip II (Charles V’s son)

• killed a few hundred Protestants

• veryyyy unpopular

Elizabeth I

• middle road ruler

  • supreme in politics + religion, all subjects had to attend service, and Protestant ideas were preached often

  • country was decided when she rose to power (Puritans wanted to remove all Catholicism, Catholics wanted to remove all Puritanism)

Mary, Queen of Scots

• Catholic and next in line for the throne

• executed after she plotted to kill Elizabeth

• Philip II, encouraged by the Catholic Pope, sent the whole Spanish armada to England

  • storms, bad food and water, not enough ammo, English fire ships → England wins

  • despite years of war after England remained Anglican

John Calvin

• studied law but converted to Protestantism when he had a religious crisis

• believed God had asked him to reform the church

• established a Christian society where church and state acted togehter

Calvinist beliefs

• in “The Institutes of the Christian Religion”

• God was omnipotent and the people are weak → humans don’t have free will

  • Predestination: whether you receive salvation has been decided before your birth

    • considered depressing but Calvinists believed acts of good could highlight them as chosen for salvation

• any job could be a “calling”

• Church services were simpler and longer, and churches had no decoration or ornate altar (only a pulpit)

Geneva and Calvinism

• Consistory (laymen and pastors) investigated and disciplined in matters of doctrine and conduct

• serious crimes and heresy were handled by civil authorities via torture

• Presbyteries, regional elected bodies, controlled some issues

• religious refugees from France/England/Spain/Scotland/Italy flocked to Geneva, bringing Calvinism back to their homeland

Calvinism in Scotland