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Chapter 15 Section 5. Culture and Daily Life. Review. What clarified the Catholic church’s position on issues such as the importance of ceremonies What did Luther’s teachings do? How did Luther’s ideas spread quickly? Why was the Anglican Church created?
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Chapter 15Section 5 Culture and Daily Life
Review • What clarified the Catholic church’s position on issues such as the importance of ceremonies • What did Luther’s teachings do? • How did Luther’s ideas spread quickly? • Why was the Anglican Church created? • What led to the creation of many different churches in Europe and less religious tolerance
Superstitions • Despite the growth of large cities, most Europeans still lived in or near small villages. • {Small town life in rapidly changing times led to less tolerance for individuality and a rise in superstitious beliefs} (Cove) • {In times of war, famine and plague people looked to superstitions and witchcraft to explain the unknown} and misfortunes in their lives • Although they were Christians, Europeans explained many events that took place to be doings of spirits • “evil spirits” got blamed for everything. If lightning struck a house “a demon did it”. If a pitcher of milk spilled, “it was that demon again” The good thing was that if your little brother came up with a black eye you could just use the “mom, the demon did it” excuse.
Continued… • Village priests would either ignore or accept these beliefs because villagers were not satisfied with the explanation that their misfortunes were God’s will • People still believed priests could have positive effects. They blessed the earth for good crops, they blessed marriages for a good start in the union and baptized children to protect the newborn. • Villagers also looked to an older person in the community to help with their problems • They would look to this “wise” person to explain what certain “warnings” meant. Like a lost items, sick animals. • The “wise” person would explain what the warning meant and recommend a remedy such as chants, potions or charms
Belief in Witchcraft • Wise people were a part of the belief in witchcraft. They were considered to be “good witches” • But if bad things started to happen or if they angered a neighbor, they might be accused of making a deal with the devil and becoming a “bad witch” • Most of the time it was elderly widows that were accused of evil witchcraft because they were vulnerable and made easy targets • Outrageous stories spread through the countryside, and with it outrageous accusations of flying on broomsticks, sticking pins into dolls and dancing with the devil in the woods at night.
Continued… • In the best case scenario, the accused would be given an exorcism by a priest to drive out the demon that had taken her over • In other cases, the accused would be dragged down to a bonfire, tied to a stake and burned alive • The outburst of “witch hunting” in Europe lasted over 100 years. Eventually witches were given a trial before they were put to death if found guilty • It was not just people who did not know any better who had these superstitions. Both religious and secular leaders accepted witchcraft as an explanation of the problems in the world. Even educated people chose to believe in such things • As the religious wars ended people gained a sense of security and the witch hunt, although it did not go away, did die down.
Daily Life • Every village had a place were people came together to drink, sew, tell stories play games and socialize. • Because villagers were such a tight knit community, anyone who upset traditions or behaved oddly was treated harshly • Quarrels between neighbors were common and the strain of hardship or famine could cause villagers to respond violently • Few villagers could read, in some cases even the priests could not read • However, after the invention of the moveable type works were more accessible and brought literature to the villages • {Single page printed sheets of news known as broadsides}began to appear • The most common books in the villages were the alminacs which published predictions about the weather and prospects of crop growth
A German broadside containing stories of pilgrimages during the Counter-Reformation
Changes in Daily Life • {Protestants and Catholics both used education to win supporters} by encouraging the founding of primary schools in the villages • Thanks to open trade many new spices, vegetables coffee and tea became accessible even by the poor. Where as before their diets consisted mostly of eggs, cheese and bread • In the cities brick and stone became more common material for housing • In hoping to escape poverty many people moved from the country to the cities. Seeing that in cities during famines, bread was handed out, and during plague times, hospitals were set up, the ideas of superstitions and “the demon did it” ideas were beginning to die down • Instead people began to seek rational explanations for things. This important development was called the “disenchantment”
Review • What led to less tolerance for individuality and a rise in superstitious beliefs • In times of war, famine and plague people looked to superstitions and witchcraft to explain what? • What are Single page printed sheets of news? • What did Protestants and Catholics both use to win supporters
