Tuesday- Warm-up
• Glue the reading passage on your desk on page 7 in your notebook.
• After reading the passage perform the following tasks:
1. Think of a title for this passage and write it above the reading
2. Underline the sentence that best explains the conditions in
Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D.
3. Highlight the word “sack” in the first paragraph and write a
definition(in your own words) to the right of that first paragraph
4. Circle three changes or events in the reading that led to the
Renaissance in Europe
The Protestant
Reformation
Background Information
In the 16th century, anger and
frustration at the Catholic
Church, combined with the
spread of attractive new ideas,
caused many Europeans to
break away from the Catholic
Church and, establish a new
form of Christianity –
Protestantism
Causes
• Distrust in the Church because of the Black Death
• Anger at indulgences (the act of paying money to the Church to
have a sin forgiven)
• Anger at corruption (improper use of money) by many leaders in
the Church
• Stronger monarchies made the Church less important
• Scientific discoveries during the Scientific Revolution challenged
the teachings and power of the Church
• Invention of the printing press allowed new ideas to spread much
more quickly
• Increase in literacy during the Renaissance allowed people to read
arguments against the Church
The Beginnings
• In response, people
began to protest the
Catholic Church
• The movement to reform
(change in order to
improve) the Catholic
Church was known as the
Protestant Reformation
Above, people burn documents of the Catholic
Church to show their protest
Martin Luther
• The most famous Protestant leader was Martin
Luther
• In 1517, he posted his 95 Theses (a list of what he
thought was wrong with the Catholic Church) on the
door of a Catholic Church in Wittenburg, Germany
• He also translated The Bible into German(language
of the commoner)
• Luther criticized:
• Indulgences
• The power of the Pope
• The huge wealth of the Catholic Church
• Luther’s teachings later became known as
Lutheranism(a branch of Protestantism)
Spreading the Reformation
• Johannes Gutenberg’s
invention of the printing press
in 1450 made it possible for
Luther to copy the 95 Theses
and spread his beliefs
• Soon, people all across Europe
were reading his ideas and
reform movements began in
many other European countries
John Calvin
• Another important Protestant leader was John
Calvin
• Expressed his concerns about the abuses of the
French Catholic Church
• Later was forced to flee France and traveled
through both Switzerland and Italy
• 1536- published Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Criticized Catholic Church
• Support Protestant Reformation
• Outlined how he felt people should worship God
• His teachings later became known as
Calvinism(branch of Protestantism
Effects
• Weakened the power of the Pope and
Catholic Church
• Strengthened the power of monarchs, who
had been arguing with the Church for a
long time over who had more power – a
king or the pope
• Caused multiple violent religious wars
between Catholics and Protestants
• Split European countries into two groups
(in general, northern European countries
became Protestant, while southern
European countries remained Catholic)
Protestant
Catholic
-Jesus offers
-Salvation is
-Jesus
salvation but
. the free gift of
lived,
was
you must
God, you
cannot earn it. crucified and work to get it.
resurrected.
-Only God can
-Popes can
forgive sins
forgive sins.
-Communion
and baptism
-Regular
-Only clergy
are very
church
make decisions
members help important
in the church.
make
decisions.
The Counter Reformation
• The Council of Trent- meeting of Catholic leaders
to make changes in response to Reformation
• Most important change: NO MORE SELLING
INDULGENCES(can still have them but cannot sell
them)
• Both churches were now competing for members
• Missionaries were sent out by both churches to
find new converts
• That competition soon spread from Europe to
Asia and even the “New World” with the
discovery of the Americas
Student Activity -- Homework
• Turn to the back of page #7 in your notebook and
copy the EQ at the top of the page: What was
the Protestant Reformation?
• Under the EQ you will be creating a Wanted
Poster for one of the historical figures involved in
the Protestant Reformation(ie Martin Luther,
John Calvin, etc)
• You should include the person’s crimes(How or
why are they involved in the Protestant
Reformation? What are their beliefs?)