Preconditions for the Reformation

• Pope’s Unam Sanctam-Pope has authority over all earthly Kings

• Fr King Philip IV despised-Why?

• Advisor elected Pope-Clement V– Moved papacy to Avignon

France-was there for 70 years

– Under French influence

• Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377, but died– Rome elected own pope

– French elected own pope

• Known as the Great Schism How does the Church appear?

John Wycliffe & Jan Hus

• Wycliffe-Scholar at Oxford attacked church practices– Wealth of the Church– Clergy immorality– Pope’s claim to supreme

authority

• Argued the Bible was the only guide to faith & salvation

• Jan Hus-follower of John– Taught at Univ. of Prague– Burned at stake as a heretic

• Why do you think these ideas were opposed by the Church?

Printing Press & Education

• Gutenberg’s printing press– Allowed for Bibles to be

mass produced– Allowed educated men to

read more-became aware of Church doctrines

• Education-Renaissance– The lay city inhabitants were

more educated– Understood politics and

basic philosophic ideas– Lay people could preach on

their own-had own Bible & could read it.

• How does this undermine the Church?

Martin Luther• As a monk, he studied

theology & received his doctorate

• Luther was troubled by his own sinfulness & the righteousness required by God for forgiveness that was taught by the Church

• Did Luther believe that Penance & good works were enough to gain salvation?

• Justification by faith alone– Believe & trust in Jesus

Christ because his righteousness satisfies God.

The Reformation• Luther didn’t want to break

away-just reform• His complaints of the Church

– Indulgences/Purgatory• What is Purgatory?

– Church raising armies & declaring war

– Church Practices not found in the Bible-clerical celibacy, sacraments

– Infallibility of the Pope

• Oct. 31, 1517 he posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany

Europe’s Response• Luther urged Germ. Princes

to force reforms on the church to curtail its political & economic power in Germany

• He was called before Emperor Charles V to recant his beliefs-Diet of Worms

• Some German princes sided with Luther-Why?

• Still declared an outlaw• Luther protected by a

German Prince-Frederick the Wise

• He translated Erasmus’ Greek Bible into German

“My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot & will not recant anything…”

Political Reasons for Supporting the

Reformation

• German princes argued that a church doesn’t need its huge landed estates-Why?

• Envied the property of the Church & its freedom from taxation

• What do you suppose the princes are trying to do?

• Way to assert their freedom from the Holy Roman Emperor

• Princes worked with converted preachers in bringing in new followers

Anabaptists• Radical reformers who

called for more extreme separation from the RCC.

• Wanted a more visible moral transformation-Why?

• Rejected infant baptism• They physically separated

themselves from society– Formed religious

communities together– Ancestors of the Mennonites

& Amish– Why would this be a

problem? – Viewed as a threat by

political authorities

Calvinists• Started by John Calvin in Geneva Switzerland-1536

• Believed in the idea of ‘predestination’– God knows who is going to

be saved– Guides those lives destined

for salvation

• Calvinists gained control of Geneva

• Believed people were sinful by nature– Outlawed dancing, card

playing, profane language– People liked the strictness of

the new denomination

•Calvinism had more followers than Luther & greatly influenced Northern Europe

•Why do you suppose people like the strictness of Calvininsm?

England & the Reformation

• King Henry VIII actually was against Luther

• However, his wife didn’t produce a male heir

• Wanted to divorce her– Pope said no– How could he solve this?– Declared himself head of the

English Church– Sir Thomas More didn’t

agree and support-beheaded

• Henry VIII didn’t change the Church much– Maintained Catholic

doctrine in a country full of Protestants

The Western Heritage 1995

Catholic Counter-Reformation

• Church needed an answer to the Protestant uprisings-found help in the Jesuits– Started by Ignatius de Loyola in 1534

– Very militaristic with an emphasis on self-discipline & obedience to the Church

– Good Catholics were to deny themselves & submit to the higher Church authority

– Combined with the traditional spirituality & mysticism of the Church

• Was a potent combination– Won back many Protestants in

Austria, Bavaria & along the Rhine

– Why do you think the Church supported this monastic order? •How does geography play a role

in the success of the Jesuits?

Church Answers the Reform Call

• Council of Trent 1545-1563– Made almost entirely of Ital.’s– Presided by the Pope

• Changes made:– Ban selling Indulgences– Made bishops live in their

diocese– New rules for clergy-better

dressed, educated, active, & strictly celibate

• No concessions made to Protestants on doctrines– Church said use of rich

display, mystery & ceremonies would inspire faith & help believers achieve salvation

•What did the Church change?

Religious WarsOf Europe

• By 1550’s 1/3 of France was Protestant Calvinists

• Called the Huguenots, they worked to reform rest of Fr.– Catholic King Henry III not about to

let that happen

• St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre-1572– Rioters in Paris & around Fr. Killed

20,000 Protestants

• Calvinists knew they had to respond– Protestant Henry of Navarre became

King Henry IV

– He renounced Calvinism & returned to the Catholic fold

– What did Henry IV have to give up to be King?

•Edict of Nantes-issued by Henry IV & proclaimed a truce

•Protestants would control cities they occupied

Germany & The Thirty Years’ War

1618-1648

• Peace of Augsburg in 1555 assured that each prince could choose the faith of his territory

• Was an uneasy peace-a patchwork of Catholic/Protestant territories in the HRE

• The new HR Emperor, Ferdinand II, revoked the freedoms in Protestant Bohemia– They responded by throwing

his representatives out the castle window in Prague

– As new HR Emperor-was going to crush the revolt

Bohemian Phase • Emperor Ferdinand II called on supporters in Bavaria & Spain– Sent troops to defeat the

Bohemians

– Battle of White Mountain-Catholic troops routed the Protestants

• Bavarian Duke pressed the war on into rest of Germany hoping to gain lands

• What does this tell you about the motives of the Nobility?

Danish Period• The Danish King was

fearful that the Emperor was going to reCatholicize the whole HRE

• Why?• Danes started fighting the

Bavarian forces to maintain their Protestant faith– Also wanted to gain control

of land along North & Baltic Seas

– Was badly defeated by General Wallenstein who occupied Denmark

Swedish Phase• Swedish King Adolphus had a

united Lutheran Sweden– Found allies in Northern Germany

to continue fighting– Won great victory at Breitenfeld– Swung war back to Protestant side

• Germans tired of fighting– Protestants compromise with

Emperor– Swedes won’t accept-invested too

much- what do they want?– French wanted to continue war-

• Secretly sent $ & supplies to Protestants

– Why would they do this? •What was the war being fought for now?

Swedish & French Phase

• French enter the war in 1635 (They’re Catholic)

• Along with Swedes they continue the fighting-IN GERMANY!

• Germans watch their lands being looted– 1/3 of Germany is killed– Just as devastating as Black

Death

• Treaty of Westphalia-1648– Ended the war– Basically was a repeat of the

Peace of Augsburg– Calvinists gained legal protection– Brandenbug-Prussia emerged

powerful in N. Germany

What is now the role of religion in European politics?