Introduction
Historical Causes
Areas of Concern
The Rise of Heresy
Contents
The Avignon Papacy
The Great Schism
Abuses in the 15th Century
Renaissance Popes
The Winds of Change
Religious Practices
Reform
Introduction
In October 1517 a
German monk called
Martin Luther walked up
to the front door of the
castle church in the city
of Wittenburg and
nailed up a list of 95
points he wanted to
make.
For many historians this
marked the beginning of
the Protestant
Reformation.
Historical Causes
The causes of the
reformation go back to
the 12th Century.
Many were concerned
with the state of the
Church.
The Church was in need
of reform but failed to
reform itself properly.
.
Papal Palace in Avignon, France
Areas of Concern
•The power and authority of
bishops and popes over people,
nobles and royalty.
•The threat of “heretical”
teachings.
•The morally corrupt live styles of
some priests, bishops, cardinals and
popes.
Concerns continued…..
•The papacy leaving Rome and
establishing itself in
Avignon.(1305 to 1377)
•The time when there was two
rival popes at the same time.
•Poor papal leadership.
•Strange and superstitious
religious practices.
•Failure to carry out the
necessary reforms.
The Rise of Heresy
In the middle ages there were many
dissidents, both groups and individuals, who
were branded as heretics and treated most
severely.
The Inquisition was established for the
sole purpose of hunting down heretics and
disposing of them.
For some, these dissidents were seen as
“martyrs” for a cause which continued to
grow.
The Poor Men of Lyons, France. (1170)
This group of “heretics” were basically overly
enthusiastic lay people who, after observing the
luxurious excesses of the clergy challenged the
apostolic authority of the bishops.
They translated the scriptures into the language
of the common people and preached in the market
places.
Contempt for ecclesiastical authority seems to be
their main “crime”.
Given the strict hierarchy of the Church it is not
surprising they were excommunicated and
expelled.
Marsilius of Padua.
Marsilius (1275 – 1342)
was the Rector of the
University of Paris. In his
position he questioned the
nature and structure of
the Church.
In his opinion the whole
community of the faithful
constituted the Church
not just popes, bishops
and priests.
Torture and Death in
God’s Name.
Judicial torture was used by
civil authorities in order to
extract “confessions” for
the Church. It was seen as a
very successful way of
getting to the truth.
Once convicted of heresy in
a Church Court the heretic
might be imprisoned or
handed over to the secular
authorities to be burnt at
the stake.
Pain as purification.
Initially the Church was against the use of violence
against heretics but later attitudes changed.
The Church was under threat. Not by an outside
aggressor but from within. A hard line was needed
to stop the fabric of the Church from being torn
apart.
From the 13th Century onwards the systematic
repression of heretics was well organized.
Perhaps one of the most famous victims of the
“Church” was St Joan of Arc who was unjustly
burnt at the stake for heresy in 1431.
John Hus
John Hus was a
theologian from Prague
in Bohemia. Earlier he
had been inspired by
the Englishman, John
Wyclif.
In 1418 he was
arrested, tortured and
then burnt at the stake
for his teachings. In
response to his death
the region of Bohemia
went into revolt.
The Avignon Papacy
In 1305 the French pope left Rome and took up
residence in the city of Avignon in present day
France. The papacy stayed there until 1372.
Avignon was a corrupt city with immorally widespread
throughout the papal court.
St Catherine of Siena wrote to Pope Gregory XI
encouraging him to reform the Church and to return
to Rome.
The Great Schism
The return to Rome from Avignon was not
without its difficulties.
When Gregory XI died in 1378 the Italian
cardinals quickly elected a new pope, Urban
VI.
The French cardinals, who were not keen to
return to Rome in the first place, did not
accept the election of Urban VI so they
elected their own pope. He was known as
Clement VII.
Clement established himself in
Avignon and Urban remained in
Rome.
The Church had TWO POPES!
When Clement died in Avignon he
was succeeded by Benedict XII.
And when Urban died in Rome he
was succeeded by Boniface IX.
Both popes tried to excommunicate
each other and both tried to
initiate a war against the other
side.
In 1409 a Council was called in Pisa to
resolve the situation.
The Council deposed both popes and
appointed Alexander V as the new pope.
The Church now had THREE POPES!!
In 1414 the three popes were:
1. Benedict III
2. Gregory XII successor of Boniface IX
3. John XXIII successor of Alexander V
Council of Constance
The situation was resolved at
the Council of
Constance(1414 – 1418).
John XXIII abdicated.
Gregory XII abdicated.
Benedict VIII was deposed.
In November of 1417 Martin
V was elected pope.
With the schism over it was
surely time for the Church to
turn it’s attention to reform.
Martin V
The Power of The
Pope Threatened
Sadly during much of the 15th Century
the papacy was preoccupied with
increasing its power and authority.
There was conflict between popes and
councils who considered themselves as
having greater collective authority than
the pope.
Pope Eugenius IV was deposed.
Pope Felix V abdicated.
Abuses in the
Eventually the popes
regained their authority.
Sadly, some popes, instead
of using their position to
reform the Church used it
to gain favours for their
illegitimate children and to
restore the architectural
glory of Rome.
th
15
Century
Serious Concerns
•Ignorant men with little education
were ordained priests.
•Individuals purchased spiritual
positions within the Church with large
sums of money.
•The burden of Church tax was very
heavy.
•Christians thought they could escape
the penalties of sin by purchasing
indulgences.
•Some priests, bishops and even popes lived
immoral lives.
•Superstition played a dominant part in
people’s lives.
•Believers increasingly trusted in
indulgences, relics and pilgrimages as the
way of salvation.
•Some bishops were worldly and ambitious,
often neglecting the spiritual concerns of
the diocese.
•Some priests became very rich by
drawing on the income of several parishes
and paying poor priests to do the work for
them.
•Many who joined Religious Life were
motivated by greed, wealth and power.
•The religious vows of poverty, chastity
and obedience were ignored by some
immoral religious.
The Renaissance Popes
The Renaissance in the 15th Century was a time
of great human advancement. Especially in the
sciences, arts, architecture and learning.
However it was a period when some of the
most notorious popes lived.
During this period several of the popes are
alleged to have gained this most sacred office
through bribery and corruption.
Papal Corruption
Examples of papal corruption during the
period include:
•The votes of cardinals being bought in the
papal elections.
• Successful candidates rewarded their
supporters with ecclesiastical offices.
•Two popes openly having mistresses.
•Members of the pope’s own family being
advanced in the Church.
Fact or Fiction?
A Spanish cardinal fathered
six children by his mistress.
Later he was elected pope.
Some of his children were
given high positions in the
Church.
Alexander VI 1492 - 1503
His son Caesar was first a
bishop and later a general in
the pope’s army.
Pope Alexander VI’s daughter
Lucretia. She married twice and had a
less than virtuous reputation.
Another pope, Julius II
(1503 – 1513) is
reputed to have
attacked an enemy
town with his papal
army.
Try to picture His
Holiness, the Bishop of
Rome, in white shining
armour, charging
across a field on a
warhorse with papal
flags flying.
Such disgraceful
examples seemed to be
an excuse for many
priests, bishops and
cardinals to break their
vows and live immoral and
shameful lives.
The Winds of Change
While some members of
the Church’s hierarchy led
sinful lives many ordinary
Christians remained
faithful to the Gospel.
Good people were genuinely
appalled by the example set
for them and longed for
reform.
Erasmus (1469 – 1536)
Erasmus was the illegitimate son of a priest.
He was also an outspoken critic of the
Church.
Of the life of the popes he wrote:
“So many riches, honours, trophies, offices,
dispensations, taxes, indulgences; so many
horses, mules, guards and so many
pleasures….They should have to be replaced
by vigils, fasts, tears, prayers, sermons,
study and penance.”
Religious Practices.
The reformers were concerned about
the unsound religious practices which
pre-occupied the time of the ignorant
masses.
Some of these practices seemed to have
evolved out of superstition.
One such practice was the gaining of
indulgences., which offered release
from punishment for the sins committed
in this life.
Indulgences
Indulgences were guarantees sold on behalf of
the Church.
There seemed to be a lot of misunderstanding
on what an indulgence could do.
Generally it was thought that the document
guaranteed the holder release from punishment
in purgatory for sins committed and forgiven in
this life.
The money collected was to be used for the
building of a new St Peter’s Church in Rome.
Many believed that
indulgences could do
things like:
•Forgive sins, even
those which had not
been committed yet!
•Allow the purchaser to
escape purgatory.
•Allow the dead to
escape purgatory.
All of this for a small price!
With the assistance of
fervent preachers very
large sums of money were
collected.
While most of the money
went to Rome for the
building of a new St Peters.
Some bishops received a
cut of the takings for
allowing the indulgence to
be preached in their
Diocese. This caused a lot
of resentment.
Reform
The Church made a half hearted
attempt to reform itself.
In 1512 the Fifth Lateran Council
opened.
It condemned some abuses and set
out a programme of reform.
Very little progress was made by the
time the Council closed in March of
1517.
In October of
the same year a
German priest
called Martin
Luther nailed up
95 theses
against
indulgences and
other abuses on
the door of the
castle church in
Wittenberg.
The Reformation had begun
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Words :Kevin Havell.
havell1@hotmail.com