Why Martin Luther’s Ideas gone viral? Martin Luther, a German monk who was influenced by the philosopher John Wycliffe and a Czech priest Jan Huss, protested against the Catholic Church and his followers became knows as the Protestants. Martin Luther and his followers were angry with the Catholic Churches’ teaching on selling indulgence (buy forgiveness). Luther’s protest had gone viral and spread virally across Europe. Luther’s most important ideas: - Only way to gain GOD’s forgiveness and ensure a place in heaven is to believe in Jesus Christ - Believing in Jesus Christ more important than church ceremonies and going to mass - Churches has no need for expensive buildings, ornaments and other treasures - Priests should be allowed to get married, if they wish - Ordinary people do not need priests to help them find GOD - The ruler of each country, not the Pope, should be the leader of the Church - Ordinary people should read the Bible in their own language rather than in Latin. - The wealth of the Church should belong to the ruler of the country The Right Place and the Right Time Germany at that time was not a country. It was a state in the Holy Roman Empire, known as Saxony. The people there disliked the Italians as the Pope was always an Italian and the Italians had control over the taxes. Also, they spoke German and was proud of their own history. Therefore, they supported Luther on his ideas. Luther’s ideas spread very fast across Europe because of the followings: - He put his ideas into pictures – even those who couldn’t read can understand his ideas - Instead of writing, he printed his ideas into pamphlets because hand-writing was slow and expensive. - Even if the Catholic Church closed down one printing shop, another printer at another area would continue printing and distributing the pamphlets. - He put humors into his work. - Preachers would read Luther’s work out loud so that the messages could be sent to everyone. - Within 2 weeks, Luther’s ideas had been spread all over German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire. Rome Strikes Back In 1521, the Pope excommunicated Luther (stopping him from going to Church and to Heaven). Frederick, the Wise of Saxony supported Luther’s ideas because he particularly liked his idea that the wealth of the church belongs to the local ruler and he could increase his power by protecting Luther. Other princes also supported Luther because of the same reasons. Other Countries Even though King Henry VIII defended Roman Catholic until his death, he adopted one of Luther’s idea of declaring himself as the Head of Church, for his own selfish interest to divorce his wife Catherine. This began the road of England becoming a protestant country. King Henry VIII (1509 – 1547) Wrote a book defending Roman Catholic and was awarded the Defender of Faith. Henry broke with Rome in 1534 and declared himself as Head of the Church in order to divorce his wife Catherine. In 1536-40, he dissolved the Catholic monasteries in order to take control of its wealth and land. In 1539, he established the Six Articles to defend the Catholic ideas He translated the bible from Latin into English in 1540. King Edward VI (1547-1553) Brought up as a Protestant and was the Head of the Church in England. In 1548, he allowed priests to get married. Priests had to wear plain robe rather than the colorful one. Pictures on churches’ wall were white-washed, statues were removed and ornaments like golden goblets were sold, to stop the distraction from listening to the preachers. Some Catholic Bishops were imprisoned in the Tower of London. In 1549, a new prayer book written in English was introduced so that more could read and understand. In 1552, Catholic Mass was abolished and replaced by a much simpler Protestant communion service. Stone altars were replaced with plain wooded tables. Queen Mary I (1553-1558) Mary released the Catholic Bishops and imprisoned the Protestant leaders instead. In 1554, Mary married Prince Philip of Spain who was a devout of Catholic. The country was reunited with the Catholic Church and the Pope was declared as the Head of Church. Married priests were expelled from the Church. Latin church services and bibles were brought back to England. English prayer book was banned. Between 1555 and 1558, around 300 protestants were burned to death for refusing to accept Catholic beliefs. Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603) Was raised a Protestant but tried to find a middle way in religion by introducing the ‘Thirty Nine Articles’ in 1563. Elizabeth called herself Governor, not the Head of Church. Church services were conducted in English and the English Prayer Book were brought back. Priests again allowed to get married, if they wish. Priests are allowed to wear colorful robes and church services did not have to be simple. Some lines attacking the Pope were removed. In 1570, the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth. Catholic priests were finally hunted down, tortured and executed. How bloody was Queen Mary? During her reign, she had tortured and executed many protestant leaders. Mary executed several well-known and important Protestants such as Archbishop Cranmer, the majority she executed was ordinary people. Evidence against Mary: - Henry VII burnt 10 in 24 years Henry VIII burnt 81 in 38 years Edward VI burnt 2 in 6 years Mary burnt 284 in 5 years Elizabeth burnt 5 in 45 years (those who plotted against her) Evidence supporting Mary, disprove some of the charges against her: - Mary’s father-in-law (Charles V of Spain) ordered more than 30,000 Protestants too be put to death in Europe. During 1500s, punishments were extremely harsh even on small offences eg. Minor thefts People widely accepted that punishment for heresy should be burning since the Middle Age, accepted by both Catholic and Protestant. Historians argued that burnings had the desired effect to deter Protestants. Mary changed the law to make churches look more Catholic. The churches began the decoration process even before the Law was passed. How did the Tudor religious rollercoaster affect ordinary people (refer picture on page 54-57) Gunpowder, treason and plot in 1605 - The plot by some Catholic to kill King James I and his parliament, in order to put a Catholic Monarch on the throne. King James I married a Catholic wife. However, his members of the council and many MPs are Protestant and they believed the country would be weakened by the Catholics. In 1604, King James I declared his final detestation of Catholics and this triggered the Gunpowder plot. (Refer picture on page 58-61) Robert Catesby initiated the plot and Guy Fawkes filled the vault underneath the House of Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. An anonymous letter warned Lord Monteagle not to attend the opening of the Parliament and the letter was then taken to Robert Cecil, King James I’s Chief Minister. Robert Cecil initiated the search at the vault and arrested Guy Fawkes.
