Religious Reformation

1. Religious Reformation Miss Isler Trimester 1

2. The Condition of the Church • 1400-1517 • Signs of disorder • Signs of vitality

3. Signs of Disorder • Clerical immorality- priests frequently violated their vows of celibacy. Also accused of drunkenness, gambling, and other vices • Clerical ignorance- many priests could barely read or write. Less educated than most educated laity.

4. Signs of Disorder • Clerical absenteeism and pluralism- especially in higher-level Chrch officials who were often absent from their sees. Many held more than one office at a time, and some had bought their offices. • Many italian officials in Rome held benefices in England, France, or Germany, drawing income but doing little for their sees (cathedral town). • Upper levels of Church hierarchy dominated by aristocrats who lived well.

5. Signs of Vitality • In Holland and Brethren of the Common Life lived simply, aided the poor, and taught in local schools • Church attendance and church donations remained high • Pope Julius II summoned an ecumenical council to discuss Church reform (1512-1517)

6. Martin Luther and Birth of Protestantism • Luther’s Early Years • Luther was a conscientious friar, but observance of the religious routine did not bring him a sense of security in salvation • Eventually he concluded that only simple faith in Christ led to salvation.

7. 95 Theses • In Luther’s home, Wittenburg 1517, Church selling indulgences to raise $ for construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome • By 1500s common people believed that if purchased indulgences, they were purchasing from the Church full remission of penalties for sin. • Luther rejected notion that good works (like donating $ to Church) would lead to salvation. Disturbed that church friars were misleading people  wrote his archbishop in protest

8. 95 Theses Cont. • 1519- Luther challenged the authority of the Pope (and general church council) in public debate. • Luther excommunicated- What doe this mean? • Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared Luther an outlaw- sheltered by Duke Frederick Saxony • Zwingli (Swiss priest)- followed Luther’s footsteps, denouncing indulgences and celibacy. Said read the Bible "I would never have thought that such a storm would rise from Rome over one simple scrap of paper..." (Martin Luther)

9. Protestant Thought • Luther maintained that God’s grace alone, without element of individual good works, saved people • Luther held that religious authority resided in Scripture, no combination with traditional Church teachings • Luther asserted that the Church consisted of the whole community of believers, not just the clergy • Luther argued that all vocations were equally holy- monasticism not higher than anything else

10. Protestant Thought • Luther emphasized the invisible Church of all believers, not the visible hierarchy culminating in the Pope • Luther argued that there were only 3 (not 7) sacraments • Baptism • Penance • Eucharist

11. Protestant Thought • Catholic Church claimed transubstantiation bread and body of Eucharist literally becomes Christ’s body and blood of Christ but Luther disagree • Luther argued for consubstantiation- Christ was present in the host in spirit, but bread and wine not transformed • Zwingli argued that Eucharist was a memorial for Last Supper, nothing more • John Calvin agreed with Luther and consubstantiation

12. Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs • Even before Luther city governments in Germany had been expressing resentment of clerical privilege and immunities • Luther’s writing that “a Christian man is the most free lord of all” contributed to peasant unrest in Germany • Following crop failures in 1523/24, Swabian peasants in 1525 demanded an end to death taxes, new rents, noble seizures of land

13. Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs • Luther backed peasants • Peasants turned to violence- Luther encouraged Lords to crush rebellions • Lutheranism came to praise the state and subordinate church to the secular rulers. • Luther owed his success to the printing press- helped spread his word • Luther’s claim that all vocations have equal merit, Protestant rejection of monasticism/celibacy, insistence that all laity (incl. women) should read Bible, acceptance of sexual desire (within marriage) all contributed to improvement in women’s circumstances

14. Germany and Protestant Reformation • Rise of Habsburg Dynasty • 1477- marriage with Maximilian I (house of Hapsburg) and Mary of Burgundy- united Austrian Empire with Burgundy and Netherlands= Hapsburgs strongest ruling family • Habsburg Charles V (1500-1558)- inherited Spain, Spanish posessions, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, plus France and Germany in marriage above.

15. Germany and Protestant Reformation • In 1519 Charles elected Holy Roman Emperor • Duty to maintain unity of Christendom • German princes converted to Lutheranism because allowed them to seize church property • Charles V focused attention on the Turks- wanted Protestant princes to help fight Turks when attack Vienna 1529 • 1521-1555- Charles V fight wars with France over Burgundy • France supported Lutheran princes within Germany, against Charles • Peace of Augsburg (1555)- Charles accepts religious status quo in Germany

16. The Growth of the Protestant Reformation • Calvinism • Anabaptists • English • Scotland • Ireland • Lutheranism in Sweden, Norway, Denmark • Eastern Europe

17. Calvinism • Much of northern Europe broke with Roman Catholic Church by 1555 • Calvinism most important new form of Protestantism • Proceeding from idea of God’s absolute sovereignty and omnipotence, founder (John Calvin), said human beings can’t save themselves. God decides at beginning of time who will be saved and who won’t Predestination • Predestination not lead to fatalism. Calvanists convinced they were saved, ready to endure evil

18. Calvanism Cont. • Calvin and city government of Geneva attempted to regulate people’s conduct in order to create a godly city on earth. Banned: • Card playing • Dancing • Genevan government prosecuted heretics, burning 58 at stake between 1542-46 • Calvanists ethic of “the calling” glorified all vocations as pleasing to God. This doctirne encouraged hard work and vigorous activism.

19. Anabaptists • Anabaptists believed in: • adult baptism • Religious tolerance • Separation of Church and State • Women as ministers • Shared property • Luthera, Catholics, Calvinists, Zwinglians all recognized as doctrine of separation of Church & State as going towards secular society persecuted Anabaptists

20. The English Reformation • Catholic Church vigorous in 16th century England • Less of gap between clergy and laypeople than anywhere else in Europe • 1534- to legitimize his divorce and marriage to Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII convinced Parliament to approve Act of Supremacy, making him head of English Church • Henry later seized monasteries and distributed that land to upper classes • Elizabeth I (1558-1603), daughter of Henry VIII, steered a middle course between Catholicism and “Puritans” who wanted “pure” church free of Catholic influences- but considered Catholic b/c of mother Catherine of Aragon

21. Establishment of Church of Scotland • Scottish nobles tended to support Reformation, while monarchs (King James V and Daughter Mary) opposed it • James Knox, minister who studied in Geneva with Calvin, was instrumental in getting the Scottish Parliament to set up a Calvinist church as the official state church of Scotland (Presbyterianism)

22. Protestantism in Ireland • Although the English tried to impose their church in Ireland, the Irish resisted and remained Roman Catholic • This became a big problem later!

23. Lutheranism in Sweden, Norway, Denmark • Monarchs took lead in initiating the Reformation • 16th century saw establishment of Lutheranism and the consolidation of the Swedish monarchy • Christian III of Denmark and Norway secularized church property and set up a Lutheran church

24. Reformation in Eastern Europe • Ethnic factors shaped Reformation in Eastern Europe • In Bohemia, ethnic grievances of the Czech majority refused with resentment of the Roman church • By 1500 most Czechs adopted utraqism position • During Counter-Reformation, Catholic revival was promoted in Bohemia • 1500- Poland and Lithuania joined in dynastic (from same descent) union

25. Reformation in Eastern Europe • Luther’s ideas spread to the Baltic towns and then to the University of Cracow (Krakow) • King Sigismund I of Poland banned Luther’s teachings, limiting its success there • Polish szlachta found Calvanism appealing • The Counter-Reformation cemeneted the identification of Poland with Catholicism • Lutheranism reached Hungary via Polish merchants • Military defeat by the Ottomans left Hungary divided into three parts • Many Magyar magnates accepted Lutheranism • Recognition of Hapsburg rule led to a Catholic restoration in 1699

26. The Catholic Reformation and Counter Reformation • Slowness of Institutional Reform • Council of Trent • New Religious Orders • Congregation of the Holy Office • Reformations: Revolution of Continuity

27. Slowness of Institutional Reform • Preoccupation with the Hapsburg-Valois wars and resistance to the idea of a council kept the popes from acting quickly to deal with the Reformation

28. Council of Trent • The Council of Trent (1545-1563) reaffirmed the equal authority of Scripture and of Church tradition. It affirmed also the seven sacraments and transubstantiation • The Council required bishops to reside in their own dioceses, ended pluralism and simony, and forbade the sale of indulgences • Council ordered that for a marriage to be valid the vows had to be exchanged publicly

29. New Religious Orders • The new order of Ursuline nuns fought heresy with religious education for girls. • Ignatious of Loyola founded the Jesuit order to fight the Reformation, again largely through education

30. Congregation of the Holy Office • 1542 Pope Paul III created the sacred Congregation of the Holy Office to manage the Roman Inquisition’s battle against heresy • The Inquisition was a committee of 6 cardinals with authority to investigate, judge, and punish heretics. They had authority to execute

31. Reformations: Revolution or Continuity? • Protestant historians stress that the Reformation was a radical break with the past, as the Church fragmented • Catholic historians stress continuity, noting the reform effects underway in the Church well before the Protestant Reformation that continued after it had taken hold

32. Resources • http://wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/CALVIN.HTM • http://www.pbs.org/empires/martinluther/index.html