The Reformation of Religion, 1500-1560

1. The Reformation of Religion, 1500-1560 The West CHAPTER 13

2. The Search for Spiritual and Fiscal Freedom • Degradation of papacy’s moral authority led to search for new forms of religious expression - Modern Devotion • Perception of pope as a distant, thieving foreigner • Concern about clerical immorality • Desire for greater local control over church

3. The Print Revolution • Invention of movable metal type and paper made books cheaply and readily available • Rise in literacy rates and increasing power of literate culture • New interpretations of experience possible

4. The Northern Renaissance and the Christian Humanists • Christian humanism - application of philological method to Bible and other Christian writings • Search to understand the precise meaning of Christian texts • Belief in imitation of the “primitive church” as path for personal and ecclesiastical reform • Legitimacy of religious practice dependant upon biblical sanction and promotion of morality

5. Martin Luther and the Break with Rome • Justification by faith alone - salvation dependent on God’s grace along, not upon any good works • The Ninety-Five Theses challenged the selling of indulgences • Priesthood of all believers undermined clerical authority • Emphasized private examination of the soul

6. The Lutheran Reformation, in Cities and Principalities • Reformation spread quickly among educated urban classes • City magistrates and German princes took control of local churches • Imperial Diet of Speyer, 1526, granted princes religious sovereignty • Religious Peace of Augsburg, 1555, cemented the religious division of the Holy Roman Empire

7. The Lutheran Reformation on the Margins • End of clerical celibacy recognized the positive religious value of wives and mothers • Early female preachers and reformers were soon suppressed • German peasants interpreted religious reformation as licensing social reform - German Peasants’ Revolt 1524-1525 • Reformers sided with princes against peasants

8. The Success of the Lutheran Reformation • Establishment of new religious institutions and practices • Educational reforms • Lutheranism spread from Germany to Scandinavia • Religious Peace of Augsburg, 1555, legitimized Protestant worship by principle of “cuius regio, eius religio”

9. The Reformation in Switzerland • Evolved independently of Lutheran Reformation • Close co-operation of civic magistrates and reformers to create a moral community - public conformity to Christian morality • Principle of predestination - God was above any human influence and only the Elect could truly follow Christian teaching

10. The Reformation in Britain • Tudors imposed the Reformation as a matter of royal policy, to consolidate dynastic power, rather than to effect religious reform • Declaration of royal independence from papal supervision • Elizabethan Settlement established a moderate, Protestant church • Scotland became staunchly Calvinist

11. The Radical Reformation • Anabaptists rejected established authorities in favor of a pure community of believers • Spiritualists sought divine illumination directly from God • Unitarians rejected the divinity of Christ and advocated religious tolerance • Attacked by both Catholics and Magisterial Reformers

12. The Free World of Eastern Europe • Relative weakness of monarchs made religious toleration possible • Aristocracy protected and nourished Protestantism • Religious diversity flourished in Hungary, Bohemia, Transylvania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

13. The Religious Orders of the Catholic Reformation • Developed from late medieval religious vitality • Male orders emphasized an active ministry in the world • Society of Jesus (1540) important for missionary and educational work • Discalced Carmelites reformed convent life, advocating strict withdrawal from the world

14. The Counter Reformation • Failure of the Imperial Diet of Regensburg, 1541, prompted a systematic Catholic counterattack against Protestantism • Reorganization of the Roman Inquisition, to discover Protestants, created a climate of intellectual caution • Index of Forbidden Books censored texts considered to be heretical or immoral

15. The Council of Trent • General church council met in three sessions, between 1545 and 1563 • Offered no compromise to Protestants on doctrinal issues • Sought to guarantee a well-educated and honest Catholic clergy • Reasserted papal and ecclesiastical power

16. Protestant Iconoclasm • Widespread destruction of religious images • Images were perceived to be too powerful and potentially dangerous • Images were also too ambiguous, distracting, and too easily misinterpreted • Reformers did use printed woodcuts and engravings to promote Protestant ideas

17. Counter Reformation Art • Catholic Church retained a strong commitment to the religious value of art • Sought stronger control over image production, to ensure clarity of religious message • The Inquisition condemned nudity and perceived impiety in art works

18. Sacred Music: Praising God • Luther recognized and promoted the power of music to move the congregation • Zwingli and certain radical reformers eliminated all music from churches • Council of Trent approved liturgical music, but only to encourage worship

19. Competing Understandings • The religious reformations permanently divided the West into two distinct and opposed religious cultures • Emphasis shifted from Christian unity to confessional differences • The West became a place of intense religious conflict, undermining the notion that its identity was founded upon Christianity