2.1-2.3

Contextualization

  • Unit 2.1

John Wycliffe

  • 1380s
  • Challenged several practices of the Catholic Church.
  • Translated the Bible into English.
    • Significance: People literate in English, but not Latin, could read the Bible.

Religious Pluralism

  • Europe had multiple and competing versions of Christianity:
    • Catholicism
    • Lutheranism
    • Anglicanism (Church of England)
    • Calvinism
    • Puritanism
  • This created a lot of choice and added to conflict between leaders and citizenry.

Struggle for Sovereignty

  • Local governments and church leaders both struggled for power.
    • Local princes could gain power if they broke from the Catholic Church.
    • Will lead to several wars.
    • Will lead to more emigration (as the American colonies became an option).

Luther and the Protestant Reformation

  • Unit 2.2

What Needed Reforming?

  • Indulgences
  • Simony
  • Pluralism
  • Nepotism
  • Immorality

Indulgences

  • Money to the church in exchange for forgiveness of sin.
    • To raise money for the rising expenses of the church.
  • Sold to all economic classes.
    • The more money you had, the more you paid.

Simony

  • The purchasing of church positions.
  • Wealthy people could buy a good position for their son.

Pluralism

  • The holding of multiple positions are one time.
  • People could become very powerful within the church with little oversight.

Nepotism

  • The appointment of friends and family to certain positions.
  • Created opportunities for bribery and rewards to people who did not want to do the work.

Immorality

  • Some priests did not practice what they preached.
  • Some had families.
  • Especially those that went into the job for the wrong reasons.

Religious Reform

  • Martin Luther
    • Wrote 95 theses
      • 1517
      • Nailed them to the door of the Wittenberg Church.
      • Reprinted and distributed around Germany.

Luther’s Beliefs

  • Ad fontes
  • Humanism
  • Good works did not lead to salvation.
  • Primacy of Scripture
  • Salvation by Faith Alone
  • All believers had access to God
  • Consubstantiation (both Body and bread)

Consequences for Luther

  • Diet of Worms
    • 1521
    • Luther met with church leaders.
    • Charles V oversaw the meeting.
    • He was forced to recant or affirm his position.
    • He affirmed - he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

Motivations for Others

  • Leaving the Catholic Church meant separating themselves from the power of the Holy Roman Emperor.
    • German City-States

Huldrych Zwingli

  • Zwingli agreed with all of Luther’s theories except Consubstantiation.
    • He believed the bread and wine were only symbols of the Body and Blood.
  • His follower, John Calvin, took over when Zwingli died.

John Calvin

  • Calvin expanded on Zwingli’s beliefs with two more ideas:
    • Predestination
      • God decides before birth who is going to heaven/hell.
      • No need for Good Works, Primacy of Faith.
    • The Elect
      • Those who have been saved.

The Elect

  • How do you prove your status of “The Elect”
    • Wealth was a sign of God’s favor.
    • Absence (or cover-up) of sin.
    • Hard work
      • A sign of serving God’s purpose.

German Peasants’ War

  • Luther’s challenges to authority inspired peasants to do the same against their landlords.
    • Luther did not support them though.
  • 1524, 1525
  • Burned homes of nobles, attacked towns.
  • Unsuccessful
    • 100,000 peasants died.

Anabaptists

  • Liked Luther and Calvin, but went even further:
    • Rejected infant Baptism.
    • Lived a secluded life to avoid all sin.
    • Avoided government work.
    • Followed scripture above government.
    • Women were allowed to preach.

Protestant Reform Continues

  • Unit 2.3

Vernacular Bibles

  • Using the Printing Press . . .
    • 1521 - Luther translated Bible into German
    • 1523 - French version of the New Testament
    • 1526 - English Bible
  • What was the result of this?

England

  • Henry VIII died in 1547
  • Edward Tudor only ruled until 1553 (9-15 years old)
    • Tried to avoid conflict by not allowing either sister to be Queen
    • He chose Lady Jane Grey instead
      • This didn’t work - she was Queen for 9 days only - executed

England

  • Mary I ruled from 1553-1558
    • Aka Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary
  • She was Catholic
  • They tried multiple times to not allow her to be Queen
  • Cousin to Charles V

England

  • After Mary’s death (1558), Elizabeth I took the Crown
  • She was Protestant
  • She gave Puritans and Catholics more rights to practice
    • Elizabeth Settlement - 1559
    • 39 Articles - 1571

England

  • After Elizabeth’s death (1603) rule changed to the Stuart cousin line
  • James I was willing to keep Elizabeth’s reforms
  • In his reign
    • King James Version of the Bible
    • Jamestown
  • He died in 1625

England

  • Charles I, son of James I, had a French Catholic wife
  • Puritans were gaining force
  • Will lead to the English Civil War (more on this in Unit 3)
  • He dies in 1649

What does all of this mean for England?

  • Religious turmoil
  • Over-population
  • Cause of war
  • Cause of emigration