Reformations & Religious Wars Notes (1500-1600)

Reformation

Contextualization

Calls for Reform in the Christian Church

  • When Christianity became the Roman Empire's official religion in the fourth century, many believers thought the church had abandoned its original mission and called for a return to a church that was not linked to the state.

  • Throughout the Middle Ages, individuals and groups argued that the church had become too wealthy and powerful. They urged monasteries, convents, bishoprics, and the papacy to give up their property and focus on service to the poor.

  • Some asserted that the church's basic teachings were not truly Christian and that changes were needed in theology, institutional structures, and practices.

  • Christian humanists of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries like Erasmus urged reform, primarily through education and social change.

Chapter Preview Questions

  1. What were the central ideas of the reformers, and why were they appealing to different social groups?

  2. How did the political situation in Germany shape the course of the Reformation?

  3. How did Protestant ideas and institutions spread beyond German-speaking lands?

  4. What reforms did the Catholic Church make, and how did it respond to Protestant reform movements?

  5. What were the causes and consequences of religious violence, including riots, wars, and witch-hunts?

Central Ideas of Reformers & why they were appealing to different social groups

  • In the early 16th century, Christian humanists, urban residents, villagers, artisans, and church officials called for reform

    • This widespread dissatisfaction explains why (German) Luther’s doctrine found a ready audience

Christian Church in the Early 16th Century

  • Those who followed the Christian Church were deeply pious

    • Since so many people were pious Christians, they started criticizing the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy (ex. pope, bishop, priest, etc…)

  • The prestige of church leaders was damaged

    • Papal conflict with German emperor Frederick II (1200s)

    • Babylonian Captivity

    • Great Schism

    • Pope’s concentration on artistic patronage & building up family power

  • Papal tax collection methods were attacked

    • Orally

    • Print (printing press)

  • Some individuals argued that certain doctrines taught by the church (ex. veneration of saints, centrality of sacraments) were incorrect

    • They suggested reform by improving clerical education and altering basic doctrines

  • In the 16th century, many methods were used to show anticlericalism (opposition to the clergy)

    • Court records

    • Popular Songs

    • Printed images

  • Critics concentrated (primarily) on 3 issues

    1. Clerical immortality

    2. Clerical ignorance

    3. Clerical absenteeism & pluralism (holding more than one church office at a time)

  • Clerics collected revenue from offices although they rarely visited them

    • Clerics hired priests to fulfill the spiritual duties of the churches and paid them little

  • Nationalistic resentment towards upper levels of the church hierarchy

    • A strong example of this in Germany

      • Lacking a strong central government to negotiate with the papacy

        • Church demanded high revenues

    • Local resentment of clerical privileges

      • Clerics were exempt from civic responsibilities (ex. taxes)

      • City governments wanted to reduce the number of privileges of the clergy

Martin Luther

  • German university professor & priest

  • Luther propelled the wave of The Reformation

  • “Faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone“

    • He believed salvation and justification came through faith

    • Faith is a free gift of God’s grace, not a result of human effort

    • God’s words are revealed in the Scriptures, not in the traditions of the Church

Indulgences & The Church

  • Pope Leo X authorized the sale of indulgences to fund the building of St. Peter’s Basilica Church

    • Purgatory- a place where souls make further amend for their sins before going to Heaven

    • Time in purgatory was believed to be shortened by purchasing an indulgence

  • Johann Tetzel- sold indulgences for Archbishop Albert

    • These indulgences promised “full forgiveness for one’s own sins or release from purgatory for a loved one“

  • “As soon as coin in coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs“

  • Many people thought they had no further need for repentance once the indulgence was purchased

    • This troubled Luther

  • 95 Theses

    • Written in Latin which only upper-class citizens (target audience) could comprehend

    • 95 Theses was reprinted in the vernacular/German

  • Luther wrote more pamphlets to push reforms

    • Moves father away from Catholicism

  • Role of the printing press in spreading ideas of Reformation

  • Papacy responded to Luther’s pamphlets & 95 Theces with ex-communication or recant

    • Luther’s attendance at the Diet of Worms held by Charles V (1521) helped create a broader audience for ideas of reform

Protestant Thought

  • Ulrich Zwingli

    • Early reformer

    • Admirer of Erasmus

    • Christian life rested on the Scriptures

      • The pure words of God and the sole basis of religious truth

    • Attacked indulgences & clerical celibacy

  • Followers of Luther & Zwingli were called Protestants

    • Derived from a protest of a small group of reforming German princes

      • Diet of Speyer (1529)

    • Authority rested in the Bible alone

      • For a doctrine or issue to be valid, it had to have a scriptural basis

        • Protestants rejected Catholic teachings of the sacraments