Causes of the Reformation
There were several instances of injustice practiced by the church. Yet it was difficult to openly criticize or defy its teachings. The manifestations of discontent against the church began long before Martin Luther challenged the church. Thus there were several causes, both remote and immediate, for the outbreak of the
Reformation. The following were the remote causes of the Reformation:
Spirit of Inquiry
The transition from the medieval to the modern period involved changes in every field in Europe. The church was bound to feel the impact of these changes. The original thinking of certain scholars led to the rise of a spirit of inquiry. People began to question the church and its teachings owing to the Renaissance movement, the revival of the secular and human spirit of ancient Greece and Rome, the geographical discoveries, the Crusades, the contact with the east as well as the scientific inventions and discoveries.
The Decline in the Prestige of the Pope
The Pope’s power began to decline gradually, with the rise of powerful Kings. For example, the French King Philip IV (1285-1314) succeeded in establishing the right to tax church property, inspire of severe opposition by the Pope. He also compelled the Pope to reside at Avignon in France, instead of at Rome, after the Pope’s interference in his political affairs. This ’Babylonian Captivity’ lasted for 70 years and greatly damaged the Pope’s prestige and power.
The election of two Popes, one by the Italian Cardinals and another by the French
Cardinals, created a further setback. In 1409, a third Pope was elected by a joint sitting of the two groups of Cardinals, creating further confusion. The Great
Schism arose since Christians in Western Europe were divided in their recognition of the three Popes. The matter was settled in 1417 when a new Pope was elected and accepted by all, at the Church Council of Constance. However, the power of the
Pope further declined owing to this Schism and more criticism.
Moral Opposition
During the 14th and 15th centuries, strong criticism was leveled against certain practices of clergymen whose lives were regarded as scandalous and immoral.
Several scholars raised their voices in opposition to certain Catholic teachings and

practices. Among them was John Wyecliff (1320-1384), an English priest and professor in the University of Oxford who declared that the Pope was not Christ’s representative on earth, but an anti-Christ. He did not believe that monasticism was not a true part of Christianity, or that the sacraments were effective when an evil and wicked clergy administered them. He also felt that individual Christians should only be guided by what they read in the Bible. He recommended that the
Church should be subordinate to the State. Wyecliffe is regarded as the "Morning star of the Reformation", since he challenged the church, a hundred and fifty years before Martin Luther. Inspire of being condemned by the Pope, Wyecliffe had many followers including country gentlemen, politicians and poor people. His followers known as the Lollards grew in numbers in England. The English Kings, Henry IV and
Henry V, tried to stop the spread of the Lollard movement through fines, imprisonment and burning.
After Wyecliff's death, his writings were spread in Bohemia by John Huss, a priest and professor in the University of Prague. The Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund invited John Huss to attend a general church council at Constance where he was burned at the stake in 1415. This led to a popular outbreak in Czechoslovakia. The
Hussite Wars lasted for many years and led to several concessions by the Pope, before the restoration of the Catholic Church in that region.
Anti-Papal Attitude of Kings
Many Kings in Europe were against the Pope for several reasons. These monarchs who resented the Church’s interference in any of their affairs were in favor of any movement that would weaken the power of the Pope and strengthen their own power.
Anti-Papal Attitude of the People
People in Germany, in the Scandinavian countries as well as in England disliked the
Pope for several reasons. They resented the Pope’s interference in non-religious matters. They were also aware of the moral degeneration in the Church and its dogmatic attitude. They were against the Pope as they were forced to make payments to the Church at Rome on several pretexts. Thus they favored a strong monarchy and were against the Papacy.
Worship of Mammon
The clergy’s desire of gaining wealth made it appear that they were worshippers of
Mammon rather than of God. There was a sale of Church offices and benefices,

while church rituals and practices became a source of profits. There was an unrestrained sale of relics such as objects supposed to have been used by Jesus
Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles and the Saints, as also of holy splinters from the true cross or from the bones of saints.
Royal Support to Church Critics
Though the opposition to the Church’s malpractice was slowly growing in strength, it burst into a storm with the realization that it had the support of several people including the kings and the nobles.
Immediate Cause of the Reformation and its Outbreak
The Church was affected by cumulative forces such as the attitude of the kings, the people’s desire to reform the Church, the corrupt lives and arrogance of the clergy, the Renaissance spirit and the influence of great writers and readers.
Martin Luther
One such outstanding leader was Martin Luther (1483-1546), the first reformer to read a large number of people to openly break with the Church. Luther was a native
German who became a monk at the age of twenty-two and was then appointed as professor of theology in the University of Wittenberg. A popular teacher and preacher, he was fearless in stating his opinions. He openly questioned the sale of indulgences in 1517 by several agents of Pope Leo X, for collecting money for completing the construction of St. Peter’s Church at Rome. He was aroused by
Tetzel, one of these agents, and on the church door at Wittenberg he posted his
95 Theses which were statements on points of difference in the beliefs and practices of the Church. Luther offered to debate with all visitors his theses in which he attacked indulgences which were promises of special favors after death.
In 1520, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X who requested the Holy Roman
Emperor, Charles V to punish him as a heretic. Though the emperor wanted to punish Luther and his followers, there were several people in Germany such as princes and noblemen, priests and monks who even supported Luther. Thus he succeeded in defying the emperor and also the Pope. Luther was asked to come before the Imperial Diet or Church Council at Worms in 1520-21, where he refused to take back anything he had said. He advocated that "it is neither right nor safe to act against conscience". He also maintained that his statements were not contradictory to the Bible.

Spread of Protestantism
Germany
Luther violently attacked the Pope and the Catholic Church in pamphlets which flooded Germany. The pious and religious supported him, as they were shocked by his portrayal of the abuses prevailing within the Church. He also received support from the patriotic Germans who resented the subordination of Germany to an
Italian Pope. Further, the nobles and princes who found an opportunity to increase their wealth and power, at the expense of Church and the empire, also became
Luther’s adherents. It appeared as if all the Germans were up in rebellion against the Catholic Church. However, the princes grew alarmed at the peasants’ rebellion against their rulers and also against the Church. In 1525, the Peasants’ Revolt was suppressed with great cruelty. A civil war broke out in Germany with the north supporting Luther and becoming Protestant, while the south rejected him and remained Catholic.
The protracted civil war in Germany was brought to a close by the so-called
Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555, in which Lutheranism was agreed to as the legal form of Christianity by the emperor. Though the German prince could choose the religion for his people, the people in each state had to conform to the religion of their ruling prince. This practice conformed to the autocracy of the times.
Scandinavia
Luther gained popularity in Scandinavia, for Lutheranism was made the established form of Christianity by the king of Denmark and Norway, as well as by the king of
Sweden. Thus most of the people in these countries and in northern Germany, became Lutherans after the 16th century.
Switzerland
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) led a revolt against the Catholic Church in Switzerland.
Since he did not agree with Luther on a few points regarding church organization as well as on sacraments, his church was styled the Reformed Church, as differing from Luther’s Protestant Church. Some of the states in Switzerland became
Protestant, while others remained Catholic. A civil war broke out between the
Catholic and the Reformed Cantons in which Zwingli was killed in the Battle of
Kappel in 1531. After peace was signed, part of Switzerland became Protestant, while the rest continued to be Catholic.
John Calvin
France
John Calvin (1509-1564) was a young Frenchman who exerted a greater influence in shaping Protestant doctrines and organization, than Henry VIII or Martin Luther.

After his break with the Catholic Church he took refuge in Switzerland, because he was regarded as a heretic in France. From 1536 until the time he died in 1564,
Calvin’s teachings spread far and wide from Geneva. There were several reasons for the wide acceptance of his doctrines. Firstly, Calvinism appealed to those who were tired of autocracy, since it was more democratic than other forms of Christianity.
Further, his doctrines clearly and concisely set down in a book called "The
Institutes" which is a masterpiece of theology. The French Protestants called the
Huguenots were Calvinists and so were many of the Swiss, the Hollanders and the
Magyars. John Knox introduced Calvinism in Scotland, where it was called
Presbyterianism because the management of the Church was in the hands of
Presbyters or elders. The Pilgrims of New England as well as the Puritans were also
Calvinists.
England
Wycliffe had sown the seeds of discontent in England where the religious revolt was led by the King Henry VIII. The King was initially against Luther. However he later broke with the Pope who did not agree with King Henry VIII’s decision to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Thus in
1534 the King induced Parliament to pass the Act of Supremacy which substituted the king for the Pope as head of the Church in England. Under the reign of his son
Edward VI (1547-1553), and that of his daughter Elizabeth (1558-1603), several changes were brought about. The Bible was to be regarded as the sole guide of faith. The Catholic doctrine of ’good works’ was declared as superstitious.
Changes were made in the sacraments and also in the prayer books which were translated from Latin to English. Though England re-allied with the Pope, under
Henry’s daughter Queen Mary, the Church of England, or the Anglican Church was firmly established during the long reign of Elizabeth.
Thus many Protestant sects such as Lutheranism, Anglicanism and Calvinism arose in the 16th century. Followers of Menno Simons, called Mennonites sprang up in
Switzerland and Holland, while the Quakers and the Baptists (who favored Baptism) became well known in England.
The Counter Reformation
An attempt was made to reform the Catholic Church in Italy, Austria, France and
Spain, while the Protestant Reformation was being carried out in Germany,
Switzerland and Scandinavia. The Council of Trent was convened in 1545 and kept in session for eighteen years up to 1563, in order to make a better statement of the doctrines of the Catholic Church and also to carry out useful reforms in money matters and education. A revision of the service-books of the Church was carried out, together with an issue of a new edition of the Vulgate, the Latin Bible.

Catholics were prohibited from reading several dangerous and heretical books which were put down in a list called the Index. The Church court, known as the
Inquisition, punished lapses from faith, especially those in Spain and in Italy.
An important role was played by the Society of Jesus, whose members were called the Jesuits, in the new movement for reforms. This was called ’Counter-
Reformation’. A Spaniard named Ignatius Loyola (1493-1556) founded the Society of Jesus in 1534. Loyola was a soldier who was wounded and having read about the life of Christ and the biographies of several saints in hospitals, decided to become a spiritual warrior of Christianity. By founding many schools and colleges, through their wide learning and culture and also by their simple and clear sermons and instructions, the Jesuits won back considerable respect for the Catholic Church.
Ignatius Loyola
In the mission fields they succeeded in reviving Catholicism in Poland which had become Protestant. They saved Catholicism in Belgium, Bavaria, Czechoslovakia and
Hungary. They tended to Catholics in England at great risk to their lives. They also undertook missions in India and China among the Indians of North America and among the savages of Brazil and Paraguay, thus making up in numbers what the
Catholic Church had lost in northern Europe.
The Pope attempted to maintain Catholicism in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and
Austria, by entering into treaties or Concordats with their rulers who were given special privileges in church matters. The Church thereby became subservient to the kings and only regained most of its freedom after political and social revolutions in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Consequences of the Reformation
The Reformation had significant and far-reaching effects:
Three groups of Christians: Christianity was already divided between the Orthodox
East and the Catholic West, much before the 16th century. During the
Reformation, in the 16th century, the Catholic West further split up into two groups; one that remained Catholic and the other that took the new name of
Protestant. The areas to which Catholic Christianity remained confined included
Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the Southern Netherlands, the forest cantons of
Switzerland, southern Germany, Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, most of
Hungary, northern Yugoslavia, South America, Central America, Mexico, most of the
West Indies, Quebec and the Philippine Islands. However, Protestant Christianity mainly spread in northern and central Germany, Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia,
Latvia, the Northern Netherlands, most of Switzerland, Scotland, England, the
United States, most of Canada, South Africa and Australia.

There were certain basic similarities between the Catholic, Protestant and
Orthodox countries. They were inspired by Jesus as their founder; they magnified the Bible and upheld Christian morals and virtues.
However, there were several theological differences. Protestants and those of the
Orthodox Church did not agree with the Catholics over the Pope’s claims and rejected his authority and government. Protestants made important changes with regard to the sacraments, rejecting the concepts of purgatory, invocation of saints and veneration of relics. The Protestants asserted that final authority rested in the Bible, while the Catholics and the Orthodox claimed that it lay in the living institution of the Church.
An immediate and unfortunate effect of the Reformation was intolerance, which expressed itself in persecution and religious wars. Instead of generating the true spirit of Christ, that is, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, the
Reformation made thousands suffer on account of their religion. The subjects of the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian monarchs were forced to remain Catholic, or to suffer death or imprisonment at the hands of the Inquisition. King Philip II of
Spain, and ’Bloody’ Mary in England persecuted the Protestants. Similarly, the
Protestant princes of Germany punished their Catholic subjects.
Civil war broke out in Switzerland under Zwingli. In Germany, Lutheranism resulted in civil strife until the Treaty of Augsburg restored peace in 1555. In France too, civil war broke out between the Huguenots who were Calvinists, and those who preferred Catholicism followed by the French monarchs. Many of the Huguenots had to leave France after suffering badly. The Edict of Nantes issued by King
Henry IV in 1598 restored peace in France. These civil wars were a hindrance to security, material prosperity and cultural advancement.
As a result of the Reformation, revolts and wars broke out, causing loss of life, property, prestige and power.
War between Spain and the Netherlands: A large number of Dutch people who had become Calvinists rose in opposition to Philip II, the ruler of the Netherlands. A terrible war took place and Holland was finally recognized as an independent state only in 1648, fifty years after Philip’s death.
The Anglo-Spanish War: During the rule of Elizabeth, Protestantism was reestablished in England. Philip II then sent a vast fleet of warships, the Armada in order to carry out his will forcibly. However the valor of the English seamen as well as the violent storms, succeeded in repulsing and destroying the Armada.
In 1618, a war broke out in Germany between the Catholics and the Protestants, which lasted for thirty years. Hence it is known as the Thirty Years War. This soon

spread like a great fire, into an international war being not only religious, but also political and economic. The various treaties of 1648 that brought the war to an end are called the Peace of Westphalia. It placed Calvinists on an equal footing with
Lutherans and Catholics. Further all Church property would continue to be in the possession of those who owned it in 1624.
Owing to the Reformation, the hands of the rulers were strengthened against the
Church. Thus it was a boon to rulers. In the name of the Reformation, Henry VIII deprived the Pope of any powers over the English church. The German princes were happy to be free from the control of the Pope. The kings of Europe could now build their countries according to the pattern of their choice. The spirit of nationalism was given a fresh impetus by the Reformation.
New ideas arose in the economic field where there were healthy changes. People were free from medieval ideas and the tyranny of the Orthodox Church. Thus, they could pursue certain economic activities such as money lending, which was criticized in the past. Owing to the Reformation old ideas were discarded and the moneylender was given a status in society.
By annihilating the economic power of the medieval Church, the Reformation paved the way for the rise of capitalism.
Though the Reformation was religious in nature, it had far-reaching effects in all fields. Thus it helped in the shaping of the modern world, along with other movements.
Dates & Events
1415 - John Huss was burnt at the stake in Constance
1517 - Martin Luther openly questions the sale of Indulgences
1520 - Martin Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X.
1520-1521 - Martin Luther appears before the Church Council at Worms but refuses to take back anything that he has said.
1524 - Ulrich Zwingli banned the Catholic Mass in Zurich.
1525 - The peasant’s revolt was suppressed with great cruelty.
1529 - Luther’s followers are named as the Protestants.
1531 - Zwingli is killed in the Civil War.
1534 - Parliament passes the ’Act of Supremacy’ declaring the king as the head of the Church of England.
Ignatius Loyola founds the Society of Jesus or Jesuits.
1536-1541 - The Frenchman, John Calvin spreads his teachings.
1545 - Meeting of the first council of Trent to try and reform the Roman Catholic
Church.

1545-1563 - The Council of Trent was in session.
1555 - Religious peace of Augsburg which agrees to Lutheranism as the legal form of Christianity.
1598 - The Edict of Nantes issued by King Henry IV restored peace in France
1618 - War broke out between the Catholics and the Protestants which lasted for thirty years.