Renaissance and Reformation1450-1600

Growth of Italian States❖Economic & political developments. ❖Italy = commercial bridge between West and Asia. ❖Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Milan, and Florence flourished.

Growth of Italian States❖Cities advanced ship building and navigation. ❖Citizens developed specialized skills: bookkeeping, generating letters of credit, merchant markets. ❖Florence = banking centre. ❖Italy was made up of city-states, dominated by merchant class and old feudal nobility.

Growth of Italian States❖Each city-state claimed supreme religious authority, challenging papacy. ❖New states started as republics, where political authority resided theoretically with the people. ❖In reality, power was in the hands of landowners and nobles in the cities. ❖By Renaissance, city-states were ruled by despots (people with great power) or oligarchies (merchants where power rested in a small number of people). ❖Warfare among city-states was common.

Growth of Italian States❖15th century, Florence was leading city. ❖1434, the Medici, rich banking family led by Cosimo de Medici became the dominant family. ❖His grandson, Lorenzo, furthered oligarchical control.

Niccolo Machiavelli❖1494, France invaded Italy. ❖Various city-states found it difficult to counter the invasion and keep their autonomy. ❖Machiavelli, a Florentine civil servant, humanist, and scholar, saw Italy being dominated by outsiders and his own city-state in jeopardy.

Niccolo Machiavelli❖One of the most significant political thinkers of Renaissance. ❖Wrote, The Prince (1532) - How a Prince can hold and maintain power ❖Defense of Despotism (rule by tyranny).

Niccolo Machiavelli❖Rejected the restrictions of honour and religion. ❖Rulers should only be concerned with power and should only be bound by rules that make him/her successful. ❖Rulers must be skilled in the art of war.

Niccolo Machiavelli❖Men are evil. ❖It is better to be stingy then liberal. ❖It is better to be feared then loved. ❖Keep your word only when it is too your advantage. ❖Known for the saying “ the end justifies the means.”

Christian Humanism❖Northern European movement. ❖Reformers wished to apply reason and scholarship to secular and ancient texts. ❖Asked the question: how can we best understand traditional biblical texts and how can one use reason rather than dogma (set of beliefs authorized by the church) to illuminate religious belief ?

Christian Humanism❖Thomas More (1478-1535), English. ❖Trained lawyer, brought Renaissance north. ❖Beheaded by Henry VIII for treason after refusing to acknowledge the king as the head of the English church. ❖Became a martyr and made a saint by the Catholic Church.

Christian Humanism❖More’s Utopia (1516), is a protest against the politics and society of his time. ❖Challenged laws and structure of politics. ❖Claimed that kings were not interested in governing well, but expanding their power, more concerned with authority than being a good ruler. ❖Attacked excessive punishment, i.e., hanging for stealing.

12

Christian Humanism❖Utopia means “no place.” ❖Utopia is a discussion of a society that does not exist - imaginary perfect place. ❖Purpose: to reform existing society. ❖More borrowed idea of utopian thinking from Plato’s Republic. ❖More believed in a co-operative society. ❖Reform must be social and state and moral live must have a relationship.

Christian Humanism❖More attacked private property, “Thus I am wholly convinced that unless private property is entirely done away with, there can be no fair and just distribution of goods, nor can mankind be happily governed. As long as private property remains, by far the largest and the best part of mankind will be oppressed by a heavy and inescapable burden of cares and anxieties.”

Christian Humanism❖In More’s society, people work and eat communally, share everything, have abundance and lead regulated lives. ❖Believed people must live by example of early Christianity, not conforming to the needs of power.

Christian Humanism❖Most famous intellectual of the time was Dutch humanist, Desiderius Erasmus. ❖Educated in a monastery and combined the traditions of excellence in classical studies with deep Christian piety.

18

❖In his Praise of Folly (1509), he used satire to expose the follies in Church and society.

Christian Humanism❖Philosophers who “announce that they are wise, and that the rest of men are only passing shadows” are attacked, especially those who do not try to use their knowledge to better society (similar to Plato’s The Republic).

Christian Humanism❖Education was at the centre of Erasmus’ program of reform. ❖Education was a moral act, in which individuals learned the classics and the Bible as a means to living the good life, a life useful to society and to others.

Christian Humanism❖Similar virtues to More’s in his utopia: moderation, toleration, a love for learning, a belief in community, responsibility for one’s acts, personal respect, and civic virtue.

Christian Humanism❖To further peoples’ ability to acquire learning, Erasmus prepared a Greek edition of the Bible in 1516, and a Latin translation in 1519. ❖He desired that the Bible be translated into vernacular languages, for all men and women to read.

Medieval versus Renaissance Worldview

❖Idea of a Divine Plan ❖Importance and Hierarchy ❖Dualism: Spirit vs. Matter ❖Allegory ❖Providence ❖Teleology

❖Overriding concept: Humanism ❖Importance of philology (languages) ❖Importance, return and restoration of classical texts, arts, literature and drama from Greek and Roman periods

Medieval View Renaissance

Protestant Reformation DefinedReformation, was a spiritual/religious revolution that aimed to correct the “problems” of the Catholic Church and sparked a century and a half of religious civil war. It resulted in the establishment of the Protestant branches of Christianity.

E.g. Lutheranism, Calvinism, etc.

Causes of Protestant Reformation❖Anti-Clericalism ❖An appetite for spiritual experience ❖Reliance of church interpretation ended with return to original sources ❖Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)❖Asked the questions: ❖How do I attain salvation? ❖What is my relationship with God and my community?

❖Luther was obsessed with the question of how an individual might be saved. ❖Catholicism stressed salvation through doing good works – fulfilling sacraments, praying, charity, kindness, etc.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther❖Began to doubt this and studied the Bible. ❖Particularly struck by passage by St. Paul in Romans: “For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

❖In 1520 he said, “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works; evil works do not make a wicked man, but an evil man does evil works. Consequently it is always necessary that the substance or person himself be good before there can be any good works, and that good works follow and proceed from the good person…

Martin Luther

❖“We do not despise ceremonies and works…but we despise the false estimate placed upon works in order that no one may think they are true righteousness.” ❖Luther began to break from the formal teachings of Catholicism. ❖Stressed personal relationship with God.

Martin Luther

❖He challenged sacraments not found in the Bible. ❖The issue of indulgences (release from the temporal penalty given by priests, sanctioned by the Church, who confessed their sins) led Luther to political struggle.

Martin Luther

❖Indulgences were sold and many believers donated money in return for release of penalties for sin and for deceased relatives. ❖1517, to raise funds for rebuilding St. Peter’s Basilica, indulgences were sold all over Europe.

Martin Luther

❖Luther was appalled by the sale of indulgences, believing that it mocked true faith and the right path to salvation. ❖He wrote 95 theses against this practice and posted them on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Martin Luther

❖Written in Latin (language of scholars). ❖Translated and distributed widely. ❖They bluntly attacked the sale of indulgences as corrupt.

Martin Luther

❖27. It is mere human talk to preach that the soul flies out immediately the money clinks in the collection-box. ❖45. Christians should be taught that he who sees a needy person and passes by, although he gives money for pardons, wins for himself not Papal indulgences but the wrath of God.

Martin Luther

❖50. Christians should be taught that, if the Pope knew the exactions of the preachers of Indulgences, he would rather have the basilica of St. Peter reduced to ashes than built with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.

Martin Luther

❖Reformers believed in salvation by faith alone and the Bible was emphasized as the word of God and the ultimate authority, not the pope. ❖The institution of the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy were not superior to individual Christians.

Martin Luther

❖1520, pamphlets were distributed and his break with the Catholic Church was definite. ❖He asked German princes to reform the Church in their areas and limit its power. ❖Luther challenged the seven sacraments and claimed only baptism and the Eucharist were legitimate because they are found in the Bible.

Martin Luther

❖Supported marriage for the clergy. ❖Argued that relationship to the Deity was a personal matter and Church was not necessary for salvation.

Martin Luther

❖Excommunicated in 1521 as a heretic (someone who believes contradicting the Church). ❖By 1529, the new Lutheran Church was created with the Bible translated into German.

Martin Luther

Spread of Reformation❖Peasants of Germany supported Luther who saw his cause as supporting their grievances against nobles who were increasing taxes. ❖Luther condemned them – not a social or political movement!

Spread of Reformation❖Approximately 100 000 peasants died in the unsuccessful revolt of 1524 – 1525. ❖Yet, society did change because of Lutheran ideas. ❖Clergy married, schools were established where Bible was taught everyday.

Spread of Reformation❖Due to the printing press, spread of the Reformation was very rapid to Switzerland, Scandinavia, England and Scotland.

44

Spread of Reformation❖John Calvin (1509-1564) major figure of second generation of Reformation. ❖Born in France. ❖Had personal religious crisis: ❖“God, by a sudden conversion, subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame…I was immediately inflamed with so intense a desire to make progress therein, although I did not leave off other studies, I yet pursued them with less ardor.”

46

\

Spread of Reformation❖Calvin believed God had called him to lead the reform of Christianity. ❖He left France and moved to Geneva where he adopted Protestantism. ❖Like Luther, Calvin believed in salvation by faith alone.

Spread of Reformation❖He emphasized the omnipotence of God and God’s sovereignty over corrupt humanity that should be humble and obedient. ❖Central idea was predestination:

Spread of Reformation“When we attribute foreknowledge to God, we mean that all things always were, and perpetually remain, under His eyes, so that to His knowledge there is nothing future or past, but all things are present. And they are present in such a way that He not only conceives them through ideas, as we have before us those things which our minds remember, but He truly looks upon them and discerns them as things placed before Him. And this foreknowledge is extended throughout the universe to every creature. We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which He determined with Himself what He willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life if foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others. Therefore, as any man has been created to one or the other of these ends, we speak of him as predestined to life or to death.”

Spread of Reformation❖God alone determines who will be saved. ❖Everyone is obliged to live a good life, in obedience of God’s commands. ❖Calvin expected his followers to profess their faith openly and participate in the sacraments of baptism and communion regularly.

Spread of Reformation❖Religious dissent was not tolerated in Calvin’s Geneva. ❖Spanish humanist Michael Servetus appeared in Geneva after escaping the Inquisition (a court established by the Roman Catholic Church to suppress and punish heresy). ❖Servetus denied the belief in the Trinity and early baptism. ❖He was found to be a danger to society and burned at the stake.

England’s Reformation❖King Henry VIII (1509-1547) severed England’s ties to Roman Catholicism and formally established national church. ❖Personal and political move. ❖Had been a defender of Roman Catholicism in early reign and the pope awarded him title “Defender of the Faith.”

53

England’s Reformation❖1527, wanted to end marriage to Catherine of Aragon (from Spain) because there was no male heir. ❖King Henry VIII requested an annulment from Pope Clement VII who delayed. ❖Henry used Parliament to transform the Church.

England’s Reformation❖Act of Supremacy of 1534 stated that the king was the “Protector and Only Supreme Head of the church and clergy in England.” ❖Church of England became another form of Protestantism. ❖Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth I, strengthened state church.

56

Spread of Reformation❖Protestant Reformation changed Europe. ❖Now Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, and Anglicans. ❖Luther’s 2 main ideas: salvation by faith alone, and authority from the scripture alone.

Spread of Reformation❖Protestantism was also responsible for significant social transformations. ❖Family became more important unit, emphasis on Bible reading and prayer at home. ❖Education became widespread.

Spread of Reformation❖Latin and Greek were taught, as well as literature and logic. ❖Theology was now written and discussed in everyday language. ❖Reformation produced a flood of new literature, and Protestant reformers made efforts to communicate with people.

Spread of Reformation❖Reformation also had significant political and economic implications. ❖Rulers sought to create churches that sustained their political authority. ❖Protestantism became associated with demands for religious tolerance.

Renaissance and Reformation 1450-1600

Counter Reformation❖Actions taken by Catholic Church to counteract the impact of Protestant Reformation ❖Includes: Council of Trent, Roman Inquisition, Index of Prohibited Books, creation of religious orders.

Counter Reformation❖New force dedicated to reform of the Catholic Church was the Society of Jesus, Jesuit Order, founded by Spanish nobleman Ignatius Loyola (1491 – 1556). ❖Abandoned military life to become soldier of God.

Counter Reformation❖The pope recognized the Jesuits as a religious order in 1548. ❖The Order recruited people, all whom were expected to be absolutely loyal to its ideals and to the papacy. ❖Education was crucial.

65

Counter Reformation❖Jesuits regarded themselves as the army of the Church and were willing to go anywhere to save souls and further the religious cause. ❖The sent missionaries to parts of Europe that were Protestant, to the Far East and the Americas.

Council of Trent (1546 - 1563)❖1545, Pope Paul III called a Church council at Trent in northern Italy. ❖The council defined valid belief as including both scripture and tradition, and affirmed the traditional seven sacraments.

Council of Trent (1546 - 1563)❖Decreed that bishops must reside in their own dioceses and that the sale of indulgences be ended. ❖Parish clergy were expected to be more disciplined. ❖Clerical celibacy was to be strictly enforced.

Council of Trent (1546 - 1563)❖1542, Pope Paul III also established Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office oversaw the Index of Prohibited Books – heretical books.

When the Dust Settles: Catholicism vs. Protestantism

❖Scripture interpreted by wisdom ❖Good Works and Faith ❖7 Sacraments ❖Stick with Latin ❖Clergy must be celibate and chaste ❖Purgatory is real ❖Honour Saints

❖Scripture as you read it ❖Faith Alone ❖2 Sacraments - Eucharist, Baptism ❖Language of the people ❖Clergy could marry ❖Go to Heaven or Hell ❖Criticized Honouring Saints