Protestant Reformation

Pope

Believers

Clergy Monks/Nuns

Failed in Italy• Popes directly involved with affairs of

state• Spanish/HRE Hapsburgs support

Pope–Dominant in Southern Italy and Venetia

• Italian Peninsula remained loyal to Catholicism

• Catholic Church was a source of wealth for Italians

• Italian Renaissance and Papal patronage made Italy rich

• Italian universities made questioning theological questions unheard of

Succeeded in Northern Euro• Church members pay church tax

– Tax $ went to Rome– Rulers saw none of the $ locally– Rulers resented this!

• Church critics appeal to nationalistic sentiment– Luther = German– Wyclif = English– Huss = Bohemian (S. German or Slav)

• Reformers back Centralization of monarchy

• Nobles saw chance to seize Church land

• Printing press spread ideas quickly• Northern universities were more

liberal and allowed for theological debate

CausesCauses1. Corruption within

• Simony, Nepotism, Pluralism, Absenteeism

2. Church division• Avignon Papacy• Great Schism of the West• Conciliar Movement

3. Renaissance Humanism4. Renaissance Secularism5. Critics6. Sale of Indulgences7. Renaissance Popes

Early Critics: John Wyclif1320-1384

English FriarCriticized vices of clergy

Criticized Papal taxes and authorityAnti-transubstantiation

Scripture, not tradition, is authorityFollowers = Lollards

Lollard peasant revolt (1381) hurt Wyclif’s cause

Early Critics: Jon Huss1369-1415

Czech PriestSimilar to Wyclif in many ways

Bohemia support Huss: State challenge to Papal authority

Followers = HussitesHuss burned at stake: Council of Constance

Renaissance Critics: Erasmus1466-1536

True religion = inward sincerityPious devotion

Outward ritual and ceremony meaninglessScripture is guide; not priesthood

Severe Humanist critic (Christian Humanism)

In Praise of Folly

Renaissance Critics: More1478-1535

Idea of communal livingNo class distinctions

No competition (economic)Defied Henry VIII

Catholic martyr (executed by Henry)

Utopia

Storyline• Renaissance Popes focus on

patronage of arts and wealth• Pope Leo X authorize Tetzel to sell

Indulgences to help pay for re-building of St Peter’s Basilica–Indulgences used since Crusades to

raise funds–Tetzel expands their use/application

• Martin Luther wrote 95 Thesis questioning use of Indulgences (1517)–Luther meant to reform Church from

within (Luther was a monk)• 95 Thesis widely read • N German States used Luther to

express their ideas or further their political/economic goals

• Papal delegates and Luther debate: Luther refused to recant

• Luther excommunicated• German states hide/support Luther• Henry VIII uses Luther to further his

ends and breaks from Rome• Other’s began protests and were

supported by various states–John Calvin, John Knox, Zwingli,

Wesley, etc

Martin Luther1483-1546

Justification by Faith2 Sacraments

True Authority = BiblePriesthood of followers

ConsubstantiationBishops = Administrators only

Reject Papal authorityClergy may marry

Religious services in the vernacularChurch is subordinate to the State

Key Events regarding Luther1. Posting of 95 Thesis (1517)2. Debate with Johann Eck in Leipzig

(1520)• Luther Excommunicated

3. Diet of Worms (1521)• Luther Outlawed by HRE

4. Peasants Revolt (1524-1525)• Swabian Peasant uprising (12 Articles)• Luther Admonished them

• We should obey rulers here on Earth• Catholics & Lutherans suppressed uprising

5. Confessions of Augsburg (1530)• Written by Philip Melanchthon• Compromise in attempt to reconcile

Lutheranism & Catholicism• Rejected by Catholics• Became central statement of Lutheran belief

6. League of Schmalkalden (1531)– Formed by German princes to defend

against Charles V drive to re-Catholicize German States

– Francis I of France allied with the League (even though he was Catholic – see below)

7. Hapsburg-Valois Wars (1521-1555) – France try to keep Germany divided (aiding

Lutherans accomplished this aim)– Charles victorious over the League in 1547

(too late – Lutheranism held too much sway)

8. PEACE OF AUGSBURG (1555)• Temporary end to Lutheran-Catholic

Struggle in German States• Cuius regio, eius religio

“Whose the religion, his the religion”• Princes choose Lutheran or Catholic for his

state• Re-affirmed independence of German

States• Ensured division of German States (stunted

German Nationalism)

Still to Come…Still to Come…• Calvinism• Zwingli• Anglicanism• Anabaptists and Mennonites• Unitarianism• Presbyterianism• Catholic Counter Reformation