Response

HIST 2312 Topic One: The Protestant Reformation

Foundations of the Protestant Reformation

The new Middle Class wealth created during the

Renaissance meant that education was open to more

people. As people became more educated, they started

questioning their institutions. Educated persons are also

open to new ideas, like Humanism. Renaissance Humanism

stated that individuals controlled their own destiny and had

free will through reason and order.

Furthermore, the “discovery” of the Americas brought out a

pioneering spirit in the population of Europe. They were

willing to experiment and take risks. The introduction of

Gutenberg’s movable type printing press in 1451 meant

that ideas could spread more rapidly and reach more

people. All of these factors, taken together with a need for

spiritual fulfillment that the Catholic Church couldn’t meet,

lay the seeds for a religious revolution in Europe.

Background

There was much spiritual anxiety among the people of

Europe by 1450. The Black Plague, which had started in

Genoa in 1347, cycled through the continent about every

twenty years or so; that is, with every new generation.

There seemed to be constant warfare: the Hundred Year’s

War, war between the Italians Republics, war between the

Dutch Republic and Spain (who controlled them). Then there

was the Inquisition, especially the Spanish Inquisition, and

the persecution of the Jews and Muslims. And finally, there

was the huge redecorating project that the Church was

undergoing: building neo-classical basilicas to replace the

old Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages. The average

person of Europe felt that the Catholic Church wasn’t

interested in the health of their souls. Even more, Europeans

were asked to pay even more in taxes and fees to the

Church to help finance the cost of Renaissance building

projects.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1453 to 1586) was a Catholic priest and

monk who lived in Wittenberg, in the Electorate of Saxony,

one of the major German provinces of the times. In 1517, as

the story goes, he posted an essay called the Ninety-Five

Theses on the church door of Wittenberg, questioning the

validity of certain Church practices, especially the selling of

indulgences. Luther also sent a copy of his paper to the

Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz. Luther wasn't out to start a

revolt against the Catholic Church. He merely wanted to

start a scholarly debate about certain Church practices. The

printing press, however, ensured that copies of his paper

were spread throughout Europe, and within a few weeks,

everyone was talking about Luther's paper. The Ninety-Five

Theses provided an outlet for common people to unleash

pent up frustrations about the Catholic Church. Scholars and

theologians alike engaged in disputes about Martin's theses.

The Catholic Church responded immediately and called for a

retraction of the paper. For the next three years, the pope

sent several representatives to try and broker a peace with

Luther, but these representatives (called nuncios) tried to

play hard ball and only made Luther more militant towards

the Church.

Luther's final break with the Catholic Church came in 1520

when he produced a 3 treatises that laid out his views

towards the Church. One, the papacy in Rome was equal to

the Antichrist and scripture conveyed no divine power on

the Pope. Therefore, the German princes must reform the

German churches themselves. Two, only faith, not good

works or penance, could save sinners. Faith came from an

individual's personal relationship with God through study of

the scripture. Three, because faith personal salvation came

from faith, ordinary people did not need an intermediary or

a professional (i.e. a priest) to guide them to salvation.

Luther was, of course, excommunicated.

Luther's view that the interior life was more important than

the exterior spread throughout Germany. His teachings also

unleashed nationalists feelings. It helps to know that the

Spanish born Hapsburg king, Charles V (r. 1520 to 1558),

who was nineteen at the time and had just come to the

throne, was also the Holy Roman Emperor, and also rule the

Low Countries (today the Netherlands and Belgium), parts of

Italy and the Austrian Hapsburg lands. Charles V therefore

ruled a large hodge-podge (I just like that word) of

nationalities. The Holy Roman Emperor was elected by the 7

German Electors or Princes. It was to Martin Luther's benefit

that Frederick the Wise, Elector and Prince of Saxony was

his protector.

In 1521, Charles V called the Diet of Worms. It's not as

gruesome as it sounds. A diet (pronounced dee-et) was a

meeting and Worms (pronounced verms) was and is a city in

The Palatinate, another Electorate. Today it is more

commonly known as the Rhineland. Martin Luther, along

with Frederick of Saxony to provide safety, went to the Diet

to defend himself. At the Diet however, Charles supported

the Pope and Catholicism. Luther was condemned and his

arrest ordered. Frederick of Saxony saved Luther and hid

him until the furor died down.

The new religion started by Luther was naturally called

Lutheranism and it relied on political authority, just as

Martin Luther did. Without the help of Frederick of Saxony,

Luther would have been scooped up by the Mother Church

and executed as a heretic. Referring to earlier in the lecture,

Luther's views were a way for the people of Holy Roman

Empire (the future Germany) to express their dissatisfaction

with the Catholic Church. By 1525, there were uprisings all

over Germany. Rich merchants, bankers and artisans

resented the tax exempt status of the Church. Peasants paid

taxes to both their local rulers and to the Church.

Furthermore, the Church was the single largest landowner in

the Empire, holding 20% of the land and wealth, so that in

some cases, people were paying double taxes if their

landlord was the local abbot or bishop.

The Peasant's War of 1525 in central and south Germany

occurred when peasant farmers banded together and

refused to pay church taxes. They even went so far as to

plunder monasteries and churches. These peasant revolts

were finally crushed by the sovereign princes, who then

used these uprisings as an excuse to begin Lutheran reform

in their principalities. Charles V, in 1529, declared

Catholicism the only legitimate religion in the Empire. The

Lutheran princes protested and thus were called

Protestants. The German Princes used Lutheranism and

religion as a political tool, to gain more control over their

principalities and to lessen the influence of the Holy Roman

Emperor and the Church. Remember this connection

between Protestants and secular rulers.

Second Wave of the Reformation

Other religious leaders will set up their own reform

churches. In Zurich, Ulrich Zwingli (1485 to 1531) led a

reform movement that was different from Luther's. Zwingli

was a former priest, like Luther, but unlike the latter, Zwingli

believed in a theocracy where religious values were fused

into both the social and political system. Luther believed

that religion must accommodate and rely on political rulers;

Zwingli thought that religious leaders should BE the political

leaders. He also allowed no dissent. When the Anabaptists

tried to set up a society in Zurich, Zwingli pressured the

leaders of Zurich to run them out of town or arrest them and

give them the death sentence. Four Anabaptists were

executed (by drowning) before they fled Zurich.

In Geneva, another former priest was also leading a reform

movement. John Calvin (1509 to 1564) also believed in a

theocratic society and Calvinism developed the doctrine of

predestination. The idea of predestination was important in

history, but it is a difficult concept to grasp. Predestination

meant that you were predestined to go to heaven or hell;

that is, God, being omniscient, knew from the beginning of

time, whether you were saved or damned. The trick with

predestination was that a particular person did not know if

they were saved, or one of God's "elect". Therefore,

Calvinists looked for particular signs in each other for signs

of God's favor, or His grace. Success in business or being

particularly blessed was a mark of God's favor. Why was the

idea of predestination important? Geneva was Protestant

educational center, and from there Calvinists spread all over

Europe. In France, they were called Huguenots, in Scotland,

they called themselves Presbyterians, and in England,

Pilgrims and Puritans. Calvinists were much more

widespread than Zwingli's sect, and eventually Calvinists

will make their way to British North America, where they will

colonize New England.

As we can see, Protestantism is not a single, unified Church

like the Catholic Church, but many different churches that

share common core beliefs, but differ in small ways.

 

Protestant Dogma

Protestant doctrine differs in many ways from Catholic

canon. The most obvious way in which the two branches of

Christianity differ is that Catholic priests must maintain

celibacy and Protestant ministers may marry. Up until very

recently (Vatican II in 1962), the Catholic Mass was

preached in Latin; however, Protestant services were always

held in the vernacular. Protestants do not venerate saints or

their relics, nor do they hold the Virgin Mary in special

esteem. Catholics believe in the doctrine of

transubstantiation (Google it); Protestants do not, going so

far as to call Catholics cannibals. Many of the Protestant

churches were Congregationalists, that is, the congregation

supported the minister. Protestants also seemed to eschew

wealth, and didn't decorate the walls of their churches,

unlike the highly decorated Catholic cathedrals and

basilicas. The Protestant emphasis was on individual

salvation, and you had to work for it; therefore, the

emphasis was on this world. The Catholic emphasis was and

is on the next world; therefore, a priest helped you get

there, and Catholics said rosaries and prayed to the Virgin

and saints for the souls of the departed.

 

Results of the Protestant Reformation

One of the most tangible results of the Reformation was that

the Bible would printed in the vernacular in Protestant

areas. After all, in order to achieve salvation, a person had

to personally study the Bible, and to do that it was easier to

have it printed in your native language. Protestants were

also focused on education. Protestant countries would set

up state-run education systems, and it became mandatory

for children to attend schools. Again, faith relied upon

scripture, and you cannot study scripture if you cannot read.

On the other hand, private charity fell out of favor, so state

run poor relief systems had to be set up. This was the

beginnings of the poor house, the orphanage and the work

house. These state run institutions were much more horrible

than private or Church run charities.

While the Catholic Church emphasized celibacy, the new

Protestant churches promoted marriage and families. Martin

Luther himself married and had six children. As a matter of

fact, erectile dysfunction in men was grounds for divorce or

for the taking of a lover. Protestants thought that families

were the central unit of society and were the basis of an

orderly and moral Christian society. It is where we get the

term "family values" (a phrase I personally despise). With

Protestantism, we get new marriage laws, we must have

parental consent to marry, and so forth.

Divorce was easier to obtain, and women could seek divorce

on greater grounds: desertion, impotence, abuse. On the

other hand, women no longer had religious life open to them

as an avenue of escape from male control. Women could not

exist outside of the family unit without peril. It was no

coincidence that this was the time of the great witchcraft

hunts. Think of the usual stereotypes of witches; they are

older women with no male supervision. This could only

happen after the Protestant Reformation. The new female

ideal was the obedient, helpful housewife, not the Virgin

Mary. Girls needed an education too, to study scripture, but

also to be moral and religious nurturers to their children.

By the time Martin Luther died in 1546, about 40% of

Western Europe was Protestant. The Northern Netherlands

(Holland), roughly 45% of the Holy Roman Empire, Scotland

and England were Protestant. Spain, France, 55% of the

HRE, Ireland, and the Southern Netherlands (Belgium)

remained Catholic. This will provoke a series of religious

conflicts (the next topic).

German princes used Luther's reform to seize control of the

great wealth of the Catholic Church in their provinces. By

converting to Protestantism, these princes also lessened the

control of the Church and Charles V over their lands.

Catholic Counter Reformation

The Catholic Church condemned Protestant doctrines but it

still lost many members to the reform movement. Therefore,

in 1545, Pope Paul III called the Council of Trent (1545 to

1563), which met three times until 1563. It was one of the

most important ecumenical councils as a grave crisis was

facing the Catholic Church.

By the time the Council of Trent was done, it had issued

several important decrees. The sacredness of the

sacraments was reaffirmed (Catholics have seven,

Protestants have two). Therefore, divorce was not permitted,

except under extreme circumstances and remarriage was

not allowed while the divorced partner still lived. Simony

was outlawed and the council stated that archbishops and

bishops had to live in their diocese, preach and be active.

Furthermore, they had to build and support a seminary in

every diocese to train and educate priests. The doctrine of

celibacy for priests remained in place, and priests were

required to be neat, clean, active and educated (which

makes you wonder what they were like beforehand).

Protestant doctrine was repudiated, although they were

discussed and given a hearing. To put the new guidelines

into place, reformers were appointed to the College of

Cardinals. On the other hand, the Index of Forbidden Books

was published and not rescinded until 1966.

The greatest weapon of the Catholic Counter Reformation

was a new order founded by Ignatius Loyola, the Society of

Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. Loyola had been a

Spanish conquistador who turned to religion in his later life.

In 1534 he founded the Society of Jesus and took monastic

vows, then in 1537 Loyola became a priest. The Jesuits

embraced monastic poverty and lived amongst the people.

However, they also embraced education, and built schools

and colleges. The Jesuits developed a style of debate that

was emotional, but humanistic in style. The Society of Jesus

then exported their lifestyle and educational system

throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Jesuit

missionaries went to Africa, Asia and America and converted

millions to Catholicism. In their debates, the Jesuits pointed

out the flaw in Protestantism: that the doctrine of

Predestination meant that only a few will be saved, and that

the poor, illiterate and afflicted had no hope of being saved.

The Jesuits went in the opposite direction. They offered

emotion, ceremony and hope to the poor of the world. And

they were very successful. By 1630, nearly a century after

the founding of the Society of Jesus, they had over 15k

members. In the next century, the Jesuits were the most

influential carriers of Western Civilization in the Europe. With

their universities turning out Jesuit scholars to spread the

message across the world, and their unwavering loyalty only

to the Church and to the Pope, their belief in self-sacrifice

and in poverty, the Jesuits did more to reconvert Protestants

back to Catholicism than any other measure taken during

the Catholic Counter Reformation.