Medieval Church Authority
 The Catholic Church was the only church in Medieval Europe
 The Bible was only to be read by Priests or Bishops
 Church Services were only in Latin.
What did people believe at the start of the 16th c?
If you went on a Crusade or a Pilgrimage you could earn time out of Purgatory
You could buy a special letter from the Pope called an Indulgence which was like
a get out of jail for free card but for Purgatory
If you died with a dirty Soul you would go to either Purgatory or straight to hell.
You had to go to Church and get the Priest to clean your Soul.
If you died with a clean Soul you would go to heaven.
What was the Protestant Reformation?
 Prior to the Reformation all Christians were Roman Catholic
 The [REFORM]ation was an attempt to REFORM the Catholic Church
 People like Martin Luther wanted to get rid of the corruption and restore the
people’s faith in the church
 In the end the reformers, like Luther, established their own religions
 The Reformation caused a split in Christianity with the formation of these new
Protestant religions
Causes of the Reformation
 100 Years War and Black Death
 Scientific Advances which contradicted the Church
 The Corruption within the Catholic Church
 Indulgences-The selling of Documents for the Forgiveness of Sins
Martin Luther
 Lived from 1483-1546 in Germany
 Father encouraged him to study law
 A sudden religious experience inspired him to become a monk.
 Martin Luther was a monk and all monks lives were revolved around community
work, prayer, rest, and work in the monastery.
 A doctor of theology at the University of Wittenburg, Germany. Luther argues
that faith alone saves the human sinner
 In 1517, he nails his Ninety-Five Theses, which confront the church and call for
reform, on the door of the Wittenburg cathedral.
 Luther rejects all but two of the sacraments, baptism and holy communion.
 He became troubled over the possibility of not going to heaven
 He turned to the Bible, and confession for comfort
 In the Bible he found the answer he was looking for
 *You Don’t have to go to Church to get your soul cleaned.
 *The Church is wrong to sell indulgencies which buy time out of Purgatory.
 *Read the Bible in your own language and not Latin.
 *Its wrong to make an image of God. The Church is too rich.
 “The righteous shall by his faith.”--Luther realized that only faith (in the ultimate
goodness of Jesus), not good deeds, could save a person. No good works, rituals,
etc. would save a person if they did not believe.
Luther’s 95 Theses
 A list of things he thought were wrong with the Catholic Church (95 Complaints)
 He criticized:
 The Power of the Pope
 The Extreme Wealth of the Church
 Indulgences (Catholic concept of Salvation)
 Gutenberg’s Printing Press made it possible for Luther to spread beliefs
 Posted his 95 Theses on Church doors in Germany
 Gained support from people and criticism from Church
Luther on Trial
 The Diet of Worms
 1520 Pope Leo X order Luther to give up his beliefs
 Luther burned the order and was excommunicated
 Luther went into hiding where he translated the New Testament into German
Acceptance of Reforms
 Some Local German Churches accepted Luther’s ideas
 Lutheranism was formed
 Supported by German Princes who issued a formal “protest” against the Church
for suppressing the reforms
 The reformers came to be known as [PROTEST]ants - Protestants
John Calvin: believed in
 Salvation through Predestination
 At birth it is decided if you will go to heaven or hell
 Foreknowledge
 God knows everything that will happen in your life
 Purified approach to life:
 No drinking, swearing, card playing, gambling etc..
Protestant Reformation
1. Peasants, angered at the abuses of the aristocracy and emboldened by the spirit of
protest decide to revolt. 2. Aristocracy sides with either Catholic Church or Luther and
civil wars break out in Northern Europe. 3. New religious movements and Protestant
sects arise, like Calvinism and Anabaptism. 4. Calvinists, followers of John Calvin,
believe that only those who are among the elect will be saved. This doctrine that God
knows who is damned and who is saved is known as predestination. 5. Calvinists put
great emphasis on work ethic and condemn dancing, drinking, and public entertainment.
Calvinism:
 Started in Switzerland – Calvinists **England = Puritans **Scotland =
Presbyterians **Holland = Dutch Reform **France = Huguenots **Germany =
Reform Church
Henry VIII and England
Henry VIII -Dissent over divorce
Wives of Henry 1st -Catherine of Aragon 2nd-Anne Boleyn 3rd-Jane Seymour 4thAnne of Cleves 5th-Catherine Howard 6th-Catherine Parr
The Anglican Church forms when Henry VIII of England divorces his first wife, is
excommunicated by the Pope, and decides to break off from the Catholic Church and
form a new Church of England
Wife #1-Catherine of Aragon
 Henry given permission from Pope to marry his brother’s widow
 Catherine failed to produce a male heir, only had one surviving child – Mary I
 Henry wanted a divorce, but Pope Clement VII wouldn’t invalidate the marriage
 Henry tried to get Church to do what he wanted, and appointed Sir Thomas More
as English Cardinal
 Henry proceeded to dissolve his ties to the Pope
 ENGLISH REFORMATION – Henry VIII took control of the English clergy and
had himself appointed the head of the Church of England
 He divorced Catherine and married his lover Anne Boleyn
The Act of Annantes
1532
Stopped all payment to the Catholic Church
The Act of Appeals
1533
Ended Rome’s Religious hold on England
The Act of Supremacy
1534
Made Henry VIII the head of the Church of England
Executions
Any subject who wouldn’t denounce the Catholic Church
Wife #2-ANNE BOLEYN
 Only had 1 surviving child – a daughter, Elizabeth I
 Henry upset at not having a son, accused Anne of incest and adultery
 Anne was brought to the Tower of London and executed
 Legend had it she had a sixth finger and a large mole or goiter on her neck
 Anne’s sister Mary had been one of Henry’s earlier mistresses
 Prior to her execution, Anne’s marriage was dissolved & considered invalid
Wife #3-JANE SEYMOUR
 First came to the court in the service of Queen Catherine, later she waited on
Anne Boleyn as she rose to Queen*Henry felt she was his first “true wife”
 She died 2 weeks after giving birth to Henry’s only legitimate son – Edward
 Only one of the 6 wives buried with him.
Wife #4-ANNE OF CLEVES
 Henry was single for 2 years after Jane died
 Henry wanted a marriage for political reasons, to form an Alliance between
English Protestants and German Protestants
 Hired a painter to find him a potential ally and paint the women who could make
it possible – He chose Anne of Cleves
 She was so unattractive however, Henry divorced her
Wife #5-CATHRYN HOWARD (cousin of Anne Boleyn)
 Married her only 16 days after his divorce to Anne – he was 49, she was 19
 They were ill-matched, he was gaining a lot of weight, and had an ulcerated leg –
she was his “rose without a thorn”
 Executed because he believed she had relations with another man before their
marriage, which continued after their marriage
Wife #6-CATHERINE PARR
 Widowed twice before marrying Henry
 Became a stabilizing mother figure in home – to Mary, Elizabeth and Edward
 She outlived Henry – who died January 28, 1547
 She married Jane Seymour’s bother Thomas after Henry’s death