Lesson 3: The Protestant

Reformation

Topic 10: The Renaissance and Reformation (1300-1650)

BELLWORK

Log onto Pearson and read the Start Up: Launching the Protestant Reformation - then answer the following questions

1.Why do you think it was important that Luther invite Church representatives to defend policies that had been in place for centuries?

2.What clues exist in the opening paragraph of the 95 Theses that show Luther’s general state of mind at the time?

OBJECTIVES

Summarize the factors that encouraged the Protestant Reformation

Explain the impact of the printing press on the Reformation

Analyze Martin Luther’s role in shaping the Protestant Reformation

Explain the teachings and impact of John Calvin

STANDARDS

Concept 4: Renaissance and ReformationPO 2. Explain how the ideas of the Protestant Reformation and the

Catholic Reformation (e.g.,secular authority, individualism, migration, literacy and vernacular, the arts) affected society

Causes of the Reformation

During the Renaissance society grew impatient with the corruption of the clergy and the worldliness of the Roman Catholic Church

From the bitterness arose new calls for reform

During the Middle Ages, the Church had renewed itself from within

In the 1500s reform unleashed forces that would shatter Christian unity in Europe

The Protestant Reformation

Abuses Within the Church

Since the late Middle Ages, the Church had been involved in worldly affairs

Popes competed with Italian princes for political power

Fought long wars to protect the Papal States against invasions by secular rulers

Plotted against powerful monarchs who tried to seize control of the Church within their lands

Abuses Within the ChurchPopes, like other Renaissance rulers, led lavish lives and were patrons of the arts

They hired painters and sculptors to beautify churches and spent vast sums to rebuild the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome

To finance projects, the Church increased fees for some services

Some clergy also promoted the sale of indulgences

Abuses Within the Church

In the Middle Ages, the Church had granted indulgences for good deeds

By the late 1400s indulgences could be bought with money or a gift to the Church

Many Christians protested such practices

Abuses Within the Church

In Northern Europe religious piety deepened

Christian humanists urged a return to the simplicity of the early Christian church

They stressed Bible study and rejected Church pomp and ceremony

Early Reformers

Before the Protestant Reformation, a few religious thinkers had called for change

Late 1300s, John Wycliffe attacked corruption and questioned some Church doctrines

He is probably best remembered for supporting the translation of the Bible into English

His ideas spread to other lands

Early Reformers

John Hus was a Czech priest and philosopher

Believed Christians should be allowed to read the Bible in their own language

Rejected some Church teachings, including indulgences

Put on trial for his activities, and was burned at the stake

Martin Luther’s Protests Bring Change1517 protests erupted into a revolt

Triggered by a German monk and professor of theology Martin Luther

As a youth he had a powerful religious experience

Luther entered a monastery, prayed, fasted, and tried to lead a holy life yet he suffered from doubts

He believed he was a sinner and was doomed

Martin Luther’s Protests Bring Change

He was also disillusioned with what he saw as the corruption and worldliness of the Church

An incident in his native town of Wittenberg, Germany, prompted him to act

95 Thesis Challenges the Church

In 1517, a priest, Johann Tetzel, began to sell indulgences to anyone who contributed money for the rebuilding of the Cathedral of St. Peter, with the approval of the pope

The purchase assured entry into heaven for the buyers and their dead relatives

95 Thesis Challenges the Church

To Luther this was an outrage

Furious that people could pay for indulgences and think they were saved instead of seeking true repentance for their sins

Besides, only the rich could afford indulgences

95 Thesis Challenges the Church

In response, Luther drew up a list of 95 Theses, or arguments, against indulgences

Following the custom of the time, he posted the list on the door of Wittenberg’s All Saints Church

Argued that indulgences had no basis in the Bible, that the pope had no authority to release souls from purgatory, and that Christians could be saved only through faith

A Firestorm Begins

Copies of the 95 Theses were printed and distributed across Europe, where they stirred furious debate

The Church called on Luther to recant, Luther refused

He developed even more radical doctrines instead

He urged Christians to reject the tyranny of Rome, saying the Church could only be reformed by secular authorities

1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther

The new Holy Roman emperor, Charles V, summoned Luther to the diet of German princes at Worms and ordered him to give up his writings, he refused Charles declared Luther an outlaw, making it a crime for anyone in the empire to give him food or shelter

A Firestorm Begins

Luther had many powerful supporters and they hid him

Throughout Germany, thousands hailed him as a hero

They accepted his teachings and, following his lead, renounced the authority of the pope

Luther’s Teachings

Salvation could be achieved through faith alone, rejecting the idea that good deeds were necessary for salvation

The Bible was the sole source of religious truth not Church councils or the pope

Rejected the idea that priests and the Church hierarchy had special powers, all Christians have equal access to God through faith and the Bible

Translated the Bible into the German vernacular so that ordinary people could study it

Believed every town should have a school where children could learn to read the Bible

Wanted to change or modify other church practices

He rejected five of the sacraments because the Bible did not mention them

Luther’s Teachings

Banned indulgences, confession, pilgrimages, and prayers to saints

Simplified the ritual of the mass and emphasized the sermon

Permitted the clergy to marry

These changes were adopted by the Lutheran churches set up by his followers

Luther’s Reforms Gain Support

Printing presses spread Luther’s writings throughout Germany and Scandinavia

By 1530, they were using a new name, Protestant, for those who “protested” papal authority

The “protests” were also expressed in some artists' work

Lucas Cranach painted portraits of Luther and other Protestant notables

Luther’s Reforms Gain Support

Cranach's work promoted the Protestant cause and its leaders

Luther’s ideas won widespread support

Clergy saw Luther’s reforms as the answer to corruption in the Church

Luther’s Reforms Gain Support

German princes embraced Lutheran beliefs:As a way to throw off the rule of both the Church and the Holy Roman emperor

Saw a chance to seize valuable Church property in their territories

Feelings of national loyalty and were tired of German money going to support churches and clergy in Italy

The Peasants Revolt

Peasants also took up the call for reform and hoped to gain Luther’s support

In 1524, a Peasants’ Revolt erupted across Germany, demanding an end to serfdom and changes to ease their harsh lives

Luther favored social order and respect for political authority and denounced it

The Peasants Revolt

With his support, nobles suppressed the rebellion, killing as many as 100,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless

The Peace of Augsburg

During the 1530s and 1540s, Charles V tried to force Lutheran princes back into the Catholic Church

After a number of brief wars, Charles and the princes reached a settlement

The Peace of Augsburg, signed in 1555, allowed each prince to decide which religion—Catholic or Lutheran—would be followed in his lands

The Peace of Augsburg

Most northern German states chose Lutheranism

The southern German states remained largely Catholic

EXIT TICKET

Read the quote from the noted humanist Erasmus.

I consider as lovers of books not those who keep their books hidden in their store-chests and never handle them, but those who, by nightly as well as daily use thumb them, batter them, wear them out, who fill out all the margins with annotations of many kinds, and who prefer the marks of a fault they have erased to a neat copy full of faults.

—Desiderius Erasmus, The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters (1484–1500)

After reading the quote, write a few sentences in response to these questions:

● How does the quotation show the impact of the printing press on how books came to be used?

● How does the quotation from Erasmus reflect the impact of the northern European Renaissance?