Protestant and Catholic Reformation

Protestant Reformation - The Roots of Change

One of the results of humanism and secularism was a widespread criticism of the Catholic Church.

During the Middle Ages, the church had amassed great wealth and land. As a result, many of the hierarchy of the church lived like royalty.

Protestant Reformation (Con’t)

By the 1500’s many of the educated Europeans began to call for a change in the Church’s ways of teaching and practicing of the Christian religion. Many of the people believed that the church had lost its spiritual focus.

The caused a split in the Christian church and produced a new form of Christianity known as Protestantism.

Protestant Reformation (Con’t)

The Protestant Reformation began in southern Germany and then spread throughout Europe.

Protestant Reformation (Con’t)

The Protestant Reformation was started by a German monk named Martin Luther.

Luther’s family wanted him to become a lawyer but an incident in 1505 changed his mind.

Protestant Reformation (Con’t)

Luther was returning home when he was nearly struck by lightning.

He believed that was punishment from God. Terrified, Luther made a promise to become a monk in return for protection from harm.

As a young monk, he was concerned about his salvation.

Protestant Reformation (Con’t)

He prayed for hours at a time but thought that God would not think his confession was acceptable.

As Luther was reading the Bible, he read a passage that said that a person could be forgiven by having faith in God and performing good deeds in life. This became known as “justification of faith.”

Luther’s Protest

Luther’s ideas brought him into conflict with the church.

Pope Leo X was trying to raise money for the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Luther’s Protests (Con’t)

Leo authorized the selling of indulgences.

Indulgences were certificates that the Church issued that would reduce or cancel a person’s sins if they truly repented. People believed that these indulgences would help them get into heaven.

Luther’s Protests (Con’t)

The Pope appointed Johann Tetzel, a monk, to sell the indulgences in Germany.

Indulgences were later sold that protected the person from future sins.

Luther’s Protests (Con’t)

Tetzel went as far as telling people that their relatives that had died could be released from purgatory in they bought an indulgence.

At the time, Luther had become a professor and priest in the town of Wittenberg, Germany. He preached against the sale of indulgences.

Luther’s Protests (Con’t) Luther said, “As soon as

the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.”

This poem began to circulate throughout Germany to protest the sale of indulgences.

The people of Germany began to think that the church was only after material gain.

Luther’s Protests (Con’t)

On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg.

These 95 thesis or statements criticized the church for indulgences & other church policies.

Luther’s Protest Spreads

Printed copies of the 95 thesis spread all over Germany. The sale of indulgences dropped sharply.

Luther began writing more essays explaining his justification of faith and further attacking church abuses and traditions - “Smells and bells.”

Leo X’s Reaction

Leo responded to Luther’s attacks by sending representatives to Germany in an effort to talk Luther out of his criticisms. Luther refused to retract his statements.

In 1520, Leo formally condemned Luther and banned his works.

In 1521, Luther was excommunicated from the Church.

Breaking with Rome

Shortly after he was excommunicated, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, summoned Luther to to appear in front of an assembly of German princes to stand trial.

Breaking with Rome (Con’t)

This assembly was known as the Diet of Worms. Charles had made a secret agreement with Leo X that Martin Luther would be found guilty.

However, Luther had the support of the German princes.

As Luther arrived in Worms, he was met by cheering crowds.

Breaking with Rome (Con’t)

Luther refused to retract his statements and was condemned as a heretic and outlaw.

He was rushed out of Worms by Prince Frederick of Saxony and was taken to a castle in Wartburg.

While in hiding, Luther translated the New Testament into German.

Lutheranism

After the Diet of Worms, Luther had laid the foundation for the first Protestant faith: Lutheranism.

His new religion stressed salvation by faith alone and the Bible as the only source of religious truth.

Lutheran services were based on preaching rather than rituals. They were also conducted in the vernacular rather than Latin.

The Spread of Protestantism

Churches in Switzerland also began to break from the Church.

A Swiss priest named Hulrych Zwingli set up the first Reform Church in Zurich.

Swiss Reformers

Zwingli and his supporters set up a theocracy in Zurich in 1525.

In 1531, a civil war broke out between Zwingli’s supporters and Catholics in Switzerland. Zwingli and his supporters were defeated.

Swiss Reformers (Con’t)

John Calvin also set up a reform church in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Calvin believed in a theory called “predestination.”

Spread (Con’t)

Calvin and his supporters required all citizens to attend church services several times a week. Members of the council could inspect people’s homes to make sure that they were following the rules.

Fighting, swearing, gambling, card playing, drinking alcohol, and dancing were banned.

Radical Reformers

Calvin’s followers spread throughout Europe. Local control of the church made it easy for the new reform churches to establish themselves.

Several other groups that opposed Catholic beliefs emerged during this time. One group called the Anabaptists only allowed adults to be baptized as members. They also refused any government interference in their lives.

England’s Struggle with the Church

The Reformation arrived in England during the 1500’s.

It was not until the reign of Henry VIII did the Catholic Church face a serious challenge in England.

England’s Struggle (Con’t)

Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon. They had one child, a daughter named Mary.

Henry needed a male heir but Catherine was unable to provide him one. Henry decided that he would divorce Catherine and marry a young woman named Anne Boleyn.

England’s Struggle (Con’t)

The problem was that Henry was Catholic and the Pope refused his request to divorce Catherine.

Henry split from the Catholic Church in 1534 by enacting the Act of Supremacy. This made him the head of the Church in England. From 1536-1540, he seized all of the Catholic holdings in England.

Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne. She gave him another daughter, Elizabeth.

Henry VIII’s Wives

Catherine of Aragon (Mary) Natural Causes

Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth) ExecutedJane Seymour (Edward) Died in

ChildbirthAnne of Cleve Natural CausesKathryn Howard ExecutedKatherine Parr Natural Causes

The Catholic Counter Reformation

In the 1530’s and 1540’s, the Catholic Church under Pope Paul III reformed the church in an attempt to stop the reformation movement.

In 1545, the Pope called the bishops of the church together for a council in Trent, Italy.

The Council of Trent lasted until 1563.

Council of Trent

The council stated that salvation came from good works and faith but it also said that church traditions were equal to the Bible as sources of religious truth.

The council also stated that the Latin Bible was the only acceptable version of the scriptures.

Council of Trent (Con’t)

The council also outlawed the sale of indulgences, established strict laws of behavior for the clergy, and direct each diocese to establish a seminary or religious school to ensure better educated clergy.

The council also acted to stamp out heretics.

The Inquisition

The church strengthened the Inquisition or the church courts to stamp out heretics and the humanist movement.

In 1543, the church published the Index of Forbidden Books. Catholics were forbidden to read these books.

The Arts

The Council of Trent decreed that the church’s rituals and art should be maintained.

Artists were commissioned to paint works of art that were intensely spiritual. As a result, a new type of art and architecture known as baroque began. Baroque arts stressed emotion, complexity, & exaggeration.

Baroque Art

Ruben’s Virgin and Child enthroned by Saints.

Baroque Art (Con’t)

Spain’s El Greco - Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple.

Baroque Art (Con’t)

El Greco’s Christ and the Cross.

Baroque Architecture

Example of baroque architecture. Larger than churches built in the past. Meant to inspire awe in the visitors.

Spreading Catholicism

In 1540, the Pope recognized a new religious order, the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.

This order was founded by Ignatius of Loyola.

The Jesuits worked to spread the Catholic religion and combat heresy.

Jesuits

Spread the religion by preaching to the people, helping the poor, and setting up schools.

They founded universities that taught all subjects.

Jesuits were also missionaries that spread the religion into Asia, Africa, and later the Americas.

A Divided Europe

During the reforms of the Catholic Church, Emperor Charles V tried to stop the Protestant religion in Germany.

Treaty of Augsburg

By 1555, it was evident that he had failed. The Emperor and the German princes signed the Peace of Augsburg.

This was a treaty that allowed each German prince to decide the religion for his people.

A Divided Europe (Con’t)

Northern Europe became Protestant and Southern Europe remained Catholic.

Religious wars continued during the 16th century. In France, the Catholic majority fought with the French Protestants, known as Huguenots.

On August 24, 1572, 3000 Huguenots were massacred by the Catholics on St Bartholomew’s Day.