Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

Created by David Silverman

Martin Luther Luther was a former monk and Professor of Scriptures in Wittenburg,

Germany

The main problem Luther had with the Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences (paying the church for instant release from purgatory)

Started during the crusades, but the church continued selling indulgences to fill its treasury

Albert Hohenzollern was offered the Archbishopric of Mainz, but he had to raise 10,000 ducats so he borrowed money from the banking family the Fuggers

The papacy gave him permission to raise money through the preaching of indulgences, where half the money went directly to Rome

Johann Tetzel (Dominican friar) preached indulgences throughout Germany with the famous phrase, “As soon as gold in the basin rings, right then the soul to heaven springs”

Luther was horrified by Tetzel’s behavior, so he responded with his 95 Theses that he displayed at the Castle Church at Wittenberg to indicate that an issue needs to be debated

He was upset that German money was going to Rome

Another point of contention was that the pope had control over purgatory

Believed the pope could only absolve penalty’s that he himself placed on people, therefore he had no power to release others

This means the pope was misleading people by selling indulgences

Many of Luther's concerns were based on his fears of being unworthy of salvation

He had been a monk, but was dissatisfied and did not feel this was the proper path to salvation

The invention of the printing press led to the 95 Theses being printed all over Germany

The papacy was not initially concerned with this

Pope Leo X considered this a mere squabble among monks

After the 95 Theses was published, Luther gained large numbers of support -which allowed Luther to move in a more radical direction

He publically debated the famous theologian John Eck on these issues in Germany

Eck accused Luther of being a Hussite (supporter of Jan Hus) when Luther said Hus was wrongly condemned at the Council of Constance

After his debate with Eck, Luther wrote 3 important pieces in 1520

Address to the Christian Nobility- urged that the secular government had the power to reform the church

On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church- attack on other teachings of the church including the sacraments

Liberty of a Christian Man- Grace is the only gift of God, therefore, one is saved by faith alone and the bible is the source of this faith

These become the basic elements of Lutheran belief

After these publications, Pope Leo X issued a formal decree demanding Luther recant his writings or be burned as a heretic

Luther “burned the bull” as a symbolic gesture to show he no longer accepted papal authority, for this, the pope excommunicated Luther

Fortunately for Luther, wealthy patrons like Frederick the Elector of Saxony demanded he be given a public hearing

Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms (German nobility) where he was famously asked by Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor, “Do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors they contain?”

Luther responded by saying he did not accept the papal authority as it was in direct contradiction of the word of god, and he would never go against god

Though he was banned, he was safely hidden in Wartburg Castle by Frederick where Luther continued to write (including translating the bible to German

After rejecting papal authority, Luther and his friend Philip Melanchthon decided to form a new church based on his ideas

Instead of seven sacraments he reduced them to two, baptism and communion

Changed the ideas of transubstantiation by saying Christ was already present in the sacrament therefore no priest was needed for a relationship with god

Also abolished monasticism (giving up worldly pursuits) and celibacy (as he married a former nun and had several children)

The success of the Reformation… Within 30 years of posting the 95 Theses, Protestantism had spread

to Northern Germany, England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France

Since Luther’s church was socially conservative, it was not perceived as a threat to the existing church

During the German Peasants’ Revolt of 1525, peasants were upset about the worsening economic conditions. They believed Luther’s message was of social egalitarianism (equality for all)

Luther himself denounced this revolt in an angry publication, “Against the Robbing and Murderous Hordes of Peasants” and urged that no mercy be shown to the revolutionaries

Luther was also willing to subordinate his church to the German princes Political issues were of no concern to Luther (his stance on the revolt), as his only

concern was his relationship with God

Encouraged the confiscation of Catholic Church lands (¼ of the Holy Roman Empire was under church rule)

Political turmoil, within the Holy Roman Empire, ensued when Emperor Maximillion died in 1519 and his grandson Charles V fought French King Francis I for the throne

Charles borrowed money from the Fuggers and bribed his way to the throne

Trying to rule Spain, the New World, Netherlands, and Italy while warring with France and the Ottoman Empire were too much for Charles to control

Could not deal with the revolt in Germany because of this

Engaged the Protestant princes in 1540 during the Schmalkaldic War where he ultimately was forced to sign the Peace of Augsburg

This granted legal recognition of Lutheranism in territories ruled by a Lutheran (Catholic rulers remained Catholic)

Radical Reformation The term Radical Reformation refers to the religious sects that grew

during the sixteenth century that were inspired by Luther’s Reformation

The Anabaptists interpreted the bible as only adults could be baptized when they were fully aware of the decisions they were making, therefore they denied infant baptism

“Rebaptism” was rejected by both Luther and the Church

Anabaptists took over the city of Munster in 1534 and tried to create an Old Testament theocracy where men could have multiple wives

Once captured by Catholic and Protestant armies the Anabaptism movement moved towards pacifism under Menno Simons

The Antitrinitarians denied the validity of the Trinity and were also hunted down (like all radical groups) by the Catholics and Lutherans

Ulrich Zwingli After Luther’s 95 Theses, Ulrich Zwingli’s (1484-1531) questioning

impacted the Swiss city of Zurich

Accused monks of indolence and rejected the assumed respect of saints

Thought unbaptized children were not damned to hell and questioned excommunication

Questioned the practice of tithing (giving 1/10th of your money to the church) being a divine institution

Rejected all sacraments saying the Last Supper was only a memorial of Christ

He was much more concerned with social reform than Luther, and died leading troops of Zurich soldiers against the Swiss Catholics

John Calvin Calvin (1509-1564) was born in France but settled in Switzerland

In his Institutes of the Christian Religion he argued that most people were going to hell, and that only a few people would find salvation

He believed in predestination, and that people did not possess free will

Although many of the church’s practices were corrupt, this violated the Catholic Church’s belief that the soul could be saved after death

He urged his followers to live “correctly” on Earth

Closed taverns and inflicted penalties for crimes like having a gypsy read your fortune

Calvinism spread during the 1540’s and 1550’s and even became the established church in Scotland

In France Calvinists were called Huguenots, and they were few in numbers

A group of English Calvinists, called Puritans, who were sick of religious harassment fled from England to Holland

They built a pair of ships to sail across the Atlantic where they started a new colony in Massachusetts based on religious freedom (PILGRIMS!!!)

Resources

Martin Luther’s Reformation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2irHpvLr7I&list=PLfzs_X6OQBOxudw-bxvxBuTWvh6bwaVhQ&index=10

Calvinism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZARuVXiH8k&list=PLfzs_X6OQBOxudw-bxvxBuTWvh6bwaVhQ&index=13

* Supplementary videos*

Transubstantiation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfKDzbNEHDg&list=PLfzs_X6OQBOxudw-bxvxBuTWvh6bwaVhQ&index=12

Free Will and the Reformation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv3Yrs6s0vI&list=PLfzs_X6OQBOxudw-bxvxBuTWvh6bwaVhQ&index=15

References

This PowerPoint presentation was adapted using information from the Princeton Review’s Cracking The AP European History Exam

Pearl, Kenneth. Cracking the AP European History Exam, 2016. New York: Random House, 2015. Print.