World Civ Unit 3
Protestant Reformation
MARTIN LUTHER
Born in Eisleben, Germany, in 1483, Martin Luther went on
to become one of Western history’s most significant figures.
Luther spent his early years in relative anonymity as a monk
and scholar. But in 1517 Luther penned a document
attacking the Catholic Church’s corrupt practice of selling
“indulgences” to absolve sin. His “95 Theses,” which
propounded two central beliefs—that the Bible is the central
religious authority and that humans may reach salvation only
by their faith and not by their deeds—was to spark the
Protestant Reformation. Although these ideas had been
advanced before, Martin Luther codified them at a moment
in history ripe for religious reformation. The Catholic Church
was ever after divided, and the Protestantism that soon
emerged was shaped by Luther’s ideas. His writings
changed the course of religious and cultural history in the
West.
Before Protestant Reformation:
Power of the Church
• Princes and Emperors didn’t like sharing
power with the Pope, but power increased
when sanctioned by the Pope
• Unifying force with undisputed control in
otherworldly issues and huge sway in
worldly issues
• Could only get to heaven the church’s way
Church Gets Into Trouble
• Sells indulgences
– Generates income: maintains power over the masses
– Needs to finance patrons: Renaissance Artists
– Paying for construction of St. Peter’s Basilica (Church in Vatican
City where the Pope lives)
– Reduces time in Purgatory for self and for family members
already there
• Controls huge blocks of land
• Doesn’t pay taxes
• Temporarily 2 Popes: France claims their own for 7
decades
• Church too concerned with wealth and power
Church Gets Into Trouble cont’d.
• Clergy not well-trained or spiritual
– Some appointed for political purposes
– Corrupt: spiritually bankrupt
• Early attempts at reform
– John Wycliffe (Oxford University) Church should
return to spiritual values
• Body burned and followers persecuted
– Jan Hus (Bohemia) urged reform
• Burned at the stake
• Led to decades long war
– Savonarola (Dominican Friar-Clergy) used violence to
fight church
Martin Luther
• Frustrations: produced 95 Theses
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Selling of indulgences
Worldly nature of Rome
Church services not in vernacular
Salvation by grace through faith, not by indulgences
or through the church
– Don’t need church as intermediary: go right to Bible
• Diet at Worms: refused to recant, saved by
Prince and not killed
Christianity Splits
• Consequences
– Luther’s followers become Lutheran Church
– New leaders emerge with other Biblical interpretations
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John Calvin: predestination of the elect
Huguenots in France
Pilgrims in US
Anglicans in England
– King Henry VIII creates the Anglican Church a.k.a.
Church of England
• Pope refused his annulment
• Allows King to confiscate church property
– Over 100,000 people died in the turmoil
Philosophical Consequences
• If the strongest institution, the Church, can
be questioned, anything is fair game
• Nature of Universe
• Role of government
• Set a foundation for future revolutions
Protestant Beliefs
• Originally favored simplicity of the
institution of the church, but when
Protestant church grew too large—it often
became too concerned with politics and
bureaucracy like the Catholic Church
• Placed less emphasis on rituals and
sacraments
• Opposed veneration of Mary and the
Saints
• Only Grace through Faith can save sinful
man, not Popes, Priests, or rituals
Protestant Beliefs
• Reading the Bible and interpreting it for
self: contributed to higher literacy rates
• More lenient about divorce
• Allowed clergy to marry
• Rejected transubstantiation: communion
with wine and bread
Counter Reformation a.k.a.
Catholic Reformation
• Gained credibility
– Stopped selling indulgences
– Trained priests and bishops requiring some spirituality
– Jesuits: stricter training—began missionary push into
China, US, etc.
• Reconfirmed absolute authority—wouldn’t budge
– Sunday Mass mandatory
– Council of Trent 1545,1563 defined rules
• How to get salvation
• Latin
• Punished heretics
– Succeeds in winning back many converts
Results: European Conflict
• Southern Europe, France, and South
Germany are Catholic
• Northern Europe, England, North
Germany, Scandinavia are Lutheran,
Anglican, or Calvinist
Effects of Reformation
• Luther’s insistence on Bible being
translated into German/Vernacular spread
literacy
• Support of German Princes led to
increased nationalism
• Thirty Years War (100,000+ deaths)
German Princes—Lutheranism vs.
Catholicism
– Germany can’t become unified nation
Effects of Reformation
• Religious wars freed Netherlands
(Calvinism) from Spain
• Henry VIII separated England from
Catholic Church
– Made himself the head of the Anglican
Church
– An Act of Supremacy
• Ended Medieval way where the Catholic
Church was the sole source of stability in
Europe
Effects of Reformation cont’d.
• Anticlericalism
– Dismay over corruption of clergy
– Luther said Priests weren’t necessary
• Growth of Middle Class continues—good
works and material success a confirmation
of salvation
• Created a Middle Class that would
eventually help establish democracies
• Increased questioning of political authority
Effects of Reformation cont’d.
• Strengthened the power of
Monarchs/Kings as Papal power
decreased
• Encouraged education—Protestants
wanted children to be able to read and
interpret the Bible
• Improved the status of women WITHIN
marriage—writers encouraged love
between man and wife
• Created even more Protestant churches