AWH Unit 7 Renaissance and Reformation (1400s - 1600s)

Anglicanism

A form of Christianity that was developed in England when King Henry VII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church  → political reasons (to divorce) → Act of Supremacy

• It was a blend of Protestant ideas and Catholic traditions

Anne Boleyn

• he second wife of Henry the 8th.

  • She is the mother of Queen Elizabeth the 1st who was a very devout Protestant. 

• When she came to England she stood out from everyone else and Henry wanted to bed her.

  • She refused to solely be his mistress.

    • She wanted to be the Queen of England.

• Anne was not a devout Catholic.

  • She believed in many protestant beliefs.

    • When Henry found books and writings that were against the church she seized the opportunity to introduce him to these protestant ideas.

• Anne was accused of Treason.

  • Royal sex scandal.

  • Cromwell set her up.

    • He was scared that she would turn on him because she would always win Henry's favor.

Byzantine Empire

Eastern half of the Roman Empire 

• Followed Eastern Orthodox Christianity 

• 1453: conquered by the Ottoman Empire

Catholicism

The largest “branch” in Christianity → led by the Pope in Rome 

• Pope has spiritual authority over the faithful 

• Salvation: following the Church → need sacraments and faith 

• Controlled much of Europe’s religious, political, and cultural life

Target of Luther’s “Church is corrupt…”

Council of Trent

Pope Paul II calls the Church leaders to meet in the Northern Italian city of Trent 

• Council of Trent (1545-1563) 

• Anybody who interpreted the bible differently then the Church’s view would be considered a heretic 

• In order to get into salvation the faithful needed to have faith and good works

• The Bibe + Church tradition are two equally powerful authorities in the faithful’s life 

• Indulgences count as an expression of faith but the selling of fake indulgences were not allowed anymore

Diet of Augsburg

The Diets of Augsburg were meetings called to figure out what to do with the Lutherans in the holy roman empire 

• Including the other faiths emerging → the Protestant movement 

By 1526: the Lutherans have the majority → they decide that the princes should be allowed to choose the religion of their people 

• Later on they are overthrown by the Catholics SO the Lutherans make the protestation: which is both a political act statement

FINAL DECISION: princes can choose what religion his people will follow (Lutheran or Catholic)

Diet of Worms

1521: Luther is called by the Holy Roman Emperor to the Diet of Worms

• Where he is asked to take his writing and ideas back 

• Luther refuses to do so and is declared a criminal 

  • This when it becomes political→ the German princes see Luther is resisting the Holy Roman Emperor → an enemy of my friend is my friend

“faith alone”

Faith alone: You can reach salvation without the Church → you build your own unique relationship with God through self study/education 

• Luther’s idea → protestants believed you did not need the church to speak to God or tell you what he said 

  • YOU CAN HAVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD 

    • The only way to achieve this relationship is through the study of texts → a white light moment where you reach for God’s help and he reaches back out to you 

      • Reach salvation instantly on your OWN → “being born again” WITHOUT THE CHURCH 

No need for the church hierarchy and pope because they weren’t in the bible → to the the bible was the only knowledge 

LUTHER FINDS OUT: 

• Bible translated into the vernacular and studied 

  • All the sacraments, pilgrimage, indulgences, and drama of the catholic church → all of these things are empty gestures that don’t exist in the bible and created by the Church to hold power 

    • Starts with a man who is deeply concerned with his own soul 

      • The more he reads he finds that the church is giving the faithful the wrong instructions → they will have the wrong combination and they will be unable to get to heaven when they die. The Church was lying to them. 

“faith and works”

• It is the authority of the Church and the obedience of the faithful 

• In order to reach salvation you have to do sacraments within the Church 

• You work to reach salvation (through the Church) 

  • Opposite of faith alone 

Ignatius of Loyola

A Catholic reformer, Ignatius Loyola created the Jesuits 

• He grew up in Loyola Spain inside of his father’s castle

In 1521: he was injured in war and while he recovered he began to think about his sins and his relationship with Jesus 

• He began to do daily devotions which he thought would cleanse his soul of his sins

1522: he started to write a book entitled Spiritual Exercises

• It talked about the day to day schedule for meditation, prayer, and study. 

He continued to gather followers → 1540 the pope made his followers into a religious order called the Society of Jesus 

• The members in this religious order for the Jesuits

THEY:

• Founded schools throughout Europe → the teachers were trained in classical and theology studies. 

•  They wanted to convert non-Christians into the Catholic faith

• Stop Protestantism from spreading 

The point of the Jesuits → are to teach 

• The protestants believe the bible should be translated into the vernacular so it can be studied (to get their relationship with God) 

  • The protestants now have textually based supported arguments → they have more evidence and the catholics can’t say anything because they only obey and haven’t been told WHY. 

    • THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR THE CHURCH 

The jesuits are empowered to teach and guide the catholic faithful 

• “Rules for Thinking with the Church” → how to obey the church → make your thinking the same way they think 

They are telling the catholic faithful to learn and think BUT in line with the Church  

Main ideas: 

• You should be ready to praise our superiors instead of finding faults → BUT the church does acknowledge some of the superiors have not been praiseworthy

  • BUT talking about the corruption in the public would cause rumors and scandals → INSTEAD if you see a superior doing something questionable saying something to your superior BUT KEEP IT QUIET 

    • The church still wanted to maintain their hierarchy of power and control so they wanted to keep any corruption quiet 

If you report it and your superior says there is no problem THERE IS NO PROBLEM 

• Obeying the Church 

Johann Tetzel

He is sent to Germany → target for the sale of indulgences 

• Because the Church went broke from building St. Peter’s Basilica → needed more money  

• But he was corrupt → there was a rumor going around that said half of the money that Johann made was going to the Archbishop of Maine's (who needed money because he was in debt from paying to get to his high ranking positon) 

Johann is the first marketing official → he made an ad for these indulgences, set affordable prices with different levels and he was not quiet about it 

• Johann selling indulgences in Germany is Luther’s last straw → leading for him to write the 95 theses

King Henry VIII

• Henry had a very large ego.

  • He liked power and thought that everything was a threat to his throne.

    • If you had royal blood and Henry was the king then you were in danger. 

  • Henry gave power to a lot of commoners because they would not challenge his throne in any way. 

• Henry the 8th was married to Catherine of Aragon.

  • She was past childbearing age and had not yet produced a male heir to the throne. 

• Then he met Anne Boleyn. (Wolsey is gone → Boleyn is influencing him) SO he turns to parliament → he needs to find another way to do this 

• The Catholic Church did not allow divorce.

  • Henry gave Tom Wolsey the job of securing the right to a divorce from the pope. 

  • Which meant that Henry could not break up Catherine to marry Anne.

• Protestantism however did allow for divorce.

  • Henry thought this was great and essentially broke it off with the Church and switched to Protestant so that he could marry Anne. 

• Marrying Anne meant bringing protestant reformation.

  • She was not a devout catholic. 

    • Her beliefs allowed them to get married. 

      • Henry took over the church.

Lutheranism

• Branch of Christianity founded by Martin Luther.

• It was founded after Luther saw many flaws in the Churches system.

• Lutheranism is centered on the belief that your entry into heaven is based on faith alone.

• It originates in 1517 when Luther posted his 95 thesis on the doors of the church.

Martin Luther

• He challenged the Church’s authority by saying that the bible never mentioned a pope or even a church.

• He thought that instead of the church’s belief that a person was defined by their faith and good works that God solely judged a person on their faith alone.

• Martin Luther was the reason for the start of the Lutherans and later the Protestants.

• He was a devout monk for a while.

  • During his time as a monk he faced serious struggles with his relationship with God for he never felt close enough to him, Luther thought that he was never doing enough for God.

    • This probably stemmed from his hard relationship with his own father who wanted him to be a lawyer.

• He wrote the 95 thesis that he posted in the town for everyone to see.

  • They were a direct attack on what the Church stood for.

Medici Family

• During the renaissance Florence came under the rule of the Medici (a powerful banking family) 

  • 1434: Cosimo de Medici won control of the government → didn’t want political office for himself, instead influenced members of the council by giving them loans 

  • 1461: Cosimo died after being dictator for 30 years

  • 1469: grandson Lorenzo de Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent) gained power and ruled as dictator

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantines which led to the release of much Greco-Roman knowledge and literature.

Peace of Augsburg

Things don’t settle down until after Luther dies 

• After many small wars in 1555 → the Peace of Augsburg or the Augsburg settlement happens → this brought things to a close 

  • It was signed by the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, and the German princes 

    • It declared that each prince in a given region is allowed to decide on the religion of his people (Lutheran or Catholic)

Peasants’ Revolt

• After Martin Luther realized his true beliefs he shared them with others. 

  • In his work he spoke of “freedom.”

    • The peasants who were being crushed by the Church’s power read or heard about this freedom and were very intrigued.

      • They thought that what Martin Luther meant was freedom from the system.

        • What Luther really meant, however, was spiritual freedom. 

The peasants took this and ran with it.

• They started to revolt against the higher powers.

They came together and wrote the Twelve Articles of Peasantry: 

• Right to choose their own pastors 

• No more tithes to Church 

• End of serfdom 

• Right to fish and hunt on land → More public land 

• End of variety of taxes

Not long after 100,000 of these men are killed → Luther did not intend for this and distances himself from them 

• The peasants are going against the same princes who are giving him shelter → HE IS FORCED TO MAKE POLITICAL DECISIONS BASED ON HIS RELIGIOUS IDEAS

Luther thought this was outrageous and told the German princes to show no mercy when it came to the peasants. 

• This did not make the peasants like Luther or his beliefs very much.

Protestatio

The formal act of protesting the decisions made by the Catholic Church 

• Protestant 

• Political and religious statement → refusing to follow Church authority

(secular) humanism/humanists

• The people who survived the middles ages in europe wanted to celebrate life and human spirit → started to question the Church → caused the renaissance

  • Led to innovative arts and literature, as well as new values = few opportunities for business

• Christian scholars, Western Scholars and Italian scholars studied classical texts led to humanism → intellectual movement focused on human potential and achievements

  • Humanists influenced artists and architects to carry on classical traditions

  • Popularized the study of history, literature and philosophy (called humanities)

• Humanists taught that a person can enjoy life without offending God → opposed to the middles ages where people demonstrated their piety by wearing rough clothes and eating plain foods

  • Basic spirit of the renaissance was secular

    • Even church leaders became more worldly (concerned with the here and now, wore fancy clothes, lived in mansions, etc.)

The (Protestant) Reformation

When the Calvinists, Anabaptists, and Anglicans were inspired to make their own changes → with the Lutherans they made the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648)

The Act of Supremacy

Henry the 8th is going back and looking at the laws passed over hundred years → cherry picking the evidence he wants → taking it out of context and twisting the meaning 

• Significance → going back, studying, getting evidence, → MAN FINDS MEANING MAN FINDS EMPOWERED TO MAKE CHANGE OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH → THAT MAN CAN BE A COMMONER → CAN MAKE ITS OWN MEANING AND CHANGE POWER TO THE PEOPLE 

• He is making a clever argument → time were clever argument not decree of the king or the church makes change 

  • Parliament passes the bill → by the consent of the english people → has control over england

    • Saw the principle of the common man → can have much more of a voice in the direction that the nation takes

It made Henry the 8th both the King of England the head of the Church as well 

• This separated the church and the pope → allowing Henry to get the church’s wealth, divorce Catherine of Aragon, and have a better control of both the religious and political affairs.

The Catholic Reformation (the Counter Reformation)

Matter of interpretation → struggle over the power of interpretation → who will have the power (individuals or the pope AKA small group community or a powerful institution)

• Catholic Reformation: the catholic religion changing itself/a revision of the Catholic belief system

• Counter Reformation: the reaction to the protestants → opposing them/saying they are wrong 

  • Condemning them to Anathema: “your wrong and going to hell”

In the early 16th century: the Catholic Church were inclined to go Counter Reformation 

• They saw the protestants as a direct challenge to their power structure 

  • If the protestants actually have a point that means their entire institution is wrong → easier/convenient to knock down the challenges made by the protestants

If the Church gave any slightest admittance that they did something wrong counts as Catholic Reformation

The Renaissance

A time of cultural and intellectual rebirth → started in Italy 

• Influenced art, literature, and education across Europe

The School of Athens

A famous painting by Raphael during the Renaissance 

• Shows humanist values, use of perspective, and use of classical knowledge

Vernacular

Renaissance writers wrote in vernacular (their native language) instead of Latin → wrote for self-expression or portraying the humanity/individuality of their subjects

What does Luther mean by “works'“

Working to gain salvation 

• Learning and self-educating using the Bible 

You work for the goodness not for God 

• Not just doing it to gain salvation

• Selfless services to the community → your calling

Peace of Augsburg (date)

1555

Diet of Worms (date)

1521

Peasants’ Revolt (date)

1524-1525

Catholic (Counter) Reformation

Early 16th century