The Protestant
Reformation
Abuses in the Church
• Many thought that the
pope had become too
involved in worldly
affairs like politics,
government, and wars
• Many also criticized the
lavish lifestyle of church
officials and heavy
spending on the arts at
a time when many were
poor and suffering
Greed in the Church
• The Church was also
building too much
wealth at the expense
of the common people
– Began to charge fees for
performing marriages
and baptisms
– Church offices had to be
purchased (a practice
called “simony”) instead
of being awarded on
merit
Indulgences
• The Church began selling
forgiveness to sinners,
replacing penance with a
fee
• Objections began when the
church began selling “after
the fact” indulgences (the
purchase of indulgences for
dead relatives so that they
could be admitted to
heaven) to fund work on St.
Peter’s Cathedral in Rome
Early Protestants
• John Wycliffe: Englishman
who opposed the pope’s
role in politics and the
Church’s wealth
• Jan Hus: Czech who
criticized the sale of
indulgences and was
burned at the stake as a
heretic →
• Erasmus: Dutch priest
who called for the Church
to modernize its rituals
reform itself from within
Martin Luther
• German monk and
professor
• Wrote 95 theses (criticisms)
about Church practices and
posted them on the door of
his local church (1517)
– argued that indulgences had
no Biblical basis
– argued that the pope did not
have the authority to release
souls from Purgatory
– argued that Christians can
only be saved through faith
Luther’s Ideas Spread
• Thanks to the new
printing press, copies of
Luther’s theses quickly
spread across Europe
• The Church demanded
that Luther admit that
he was wrong and
retract his arguments –
he refused and instead
insisted the Church
undertake reforms
The Edict of Worms
• In 1521, the pope
excommunicated Luther
and Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V issued the Edict
of Worms, declaring
Luther a heretic and a
criminal
• By this time, however,
Luther had many
supporters who helped
him remain in hiding to
avoid arrest
Lutheran Radicalism
• Luther began to call for
more aggressive reforms
– rejected idea that good
deeds “buy” one entrance
to heaven; instead, faith
alone gains one entrance
– rejected idea that priests
have special access to God;
instead, everyone has
access to God through
prayer
Lutheran Radicalism
• wanted the Bible to be
printed in the vernacular
(commonly spoken
languages like English,
French, and German)
instead of only Latin, so
that anyone could read it
• argued that the Bible was
the sole source of
religious truth and denied
other sources such as the
Pope’s decrees
Lutheran Radicalism
• wanted towns to open
schools and teach everyone
how to read the Bible
• wanted to simplify church
services by simplifying ritual
and focusing on sermons
(weekly moral lessons)
• wanted to ban prayer to
the Virgin Mary & the
saints; end practice of
confession, and stop the
sale of indulgences
• wanted to allow priests to
marry
Luther Succeeds
• By 1530, Luther’s ideas had
caught on in Germany and
Scandinavia
• Luther was supported by
nobles, who resented the
pope’s interference in
politics, and by peasants,
who saw his movement as
an opportunity to promote
social reform
• Eventually, Emperor Charles
V had to back down and
legalize Lutheranism in
Germany or risk civil war
Ulrich Zwingli
• Swiss priest who pushed
for adoption of many of
Luther’s reforms, but who
had a public dispute with
Luther over the Eucharist,
leading to a split amongst
the early Protestants
• Killed in battle with
Catholics while trying to
unite Switzerland as a
Protestant state
• Many of his beliefs were
passed on to John Calvin
John Calvin
• Calvin became the ruler
of the Swiss city-state of
Geneva in 1541
– enacted a strict moral code
on the city: no fighting,
swearing, or dancing
– closed all theaters &
banned elaborate and
colorful clothing
• Held many of the same
beliefs as Zwingli &
Luther, but promoted the
radical new idea of
“predestination”
Predestination
• Belief that God already
knew, even before you
were born, whether you
were going to Heaven or
to Hell – your fate was
predetermined
• Instead of your earthly
actions determining your
eternal fate, it is your
eternal fate which
predicts what your
earthly actions will be
French Wars of Religion
• 1562 – 1598
• French Calvinists, called
“Huguenots,” and
Catholics engaged in a
struggle for control of
France
• Horrible massacres
occurred on both sides,
the worst of which was
the St. Bartholomew’s
Day Massacre in 1572
France’s King Henry IV
• First in the line of Bourbon
French kings
• Ended the religious wars in
1598 with the Edict of
Nantes, granting freedom of
religion to Huguenots
• Known as “Good King
Henry” for returning peace
to France
• Assassinated in 1610 by a
Catholic who resented the
Edict of Nantes, leaving the
throne to his 9 year-old son,
Louis XIII
The Reformation Spreads
• After Lutheranism and
Calvinism, hundreds of
other Protestant sects
were born all over Europe
– Anabaptists – rejected the
baptism of infants, argued
that only adults could
knowingly accept Christ
• Modern Baptists, Quakers,
Mennonites, & Amish are
all descended from the
Anabaptists
England’s King Henry VIII
• A staunch Catholic and a
longtime favorite of the
pope, BUT …
• In 1527, he decided that
he needed to divorce his
wife of 18 years because
she had not provided him
with a son
• Henry asked the pope to
annul his marriage, but
was refused.
• Ruled 1509-1547
The Church of England
• Angry, Henry seized all of the
Church’s property in England and
declared himself head of the new
Church of England (or Anglican
Church)
• Henry ordered anyone who
maintained loyalty to the pope
was ordered to be charged with
treason and executed.
• Henry even executed his own top
advisor, Sir Thomas More (author
of Utopia) for refusing to accept
Henry’s break with the Church
Henry’s Wives & Children
• Henry announced his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon (who had
given him a daughter, Mary)
annulled and married his
mistress, Anne Boleyn, who gave
him another daughter, Elizabeth.
• After having Anne Boleyn
executed for adultery, Henry
married Jane Seymour who died
from complications shortly after
giving birth to Henry’s only son,
Edward VI.
• Henry married three more times
after Jane’s death, but no other
children were conceived.
King Edward VI
• Became king at age 9,
upon Henry VIII’s death
• Made serious changes to
the Church of England:
priests could wed, mass
was abolished, services
conducted in English
• Died of tuberculosis at
age 15
• In his will, he left the
throne to his cousin, lady
Jane Grey, rather than
either of his sisters
Lady Jane Grey
• Was queen of England for
only 9 days before Edward’s
oldest sister, Mary, asserted
her claim to the throne
• Parliament, which had
accepted Jane as queen,
quickly withdrew their
acceptance and declared
Mary queen instead
• Jane was convicted of
treason and sentenced to
die, but was spared until a
Protestant rebellion forced
Mary to execute her
“Bloody” Mary I
• Daughter of Henry VIII and his
first wife, Catherine of Aragon
• Devoutly Catholic, married
Spain’s King Philip II, striking a
Catholic alliance, but he
abandoned her when she
could produce no children
• Brutally persecuted
Protestants, earning the
nickname “Bloody Mary”
• When she died of cancer after
only 5 years on the throne, her
half-sister Elizabeth succeeded
to the throne
• Ruled 1553-1558
Elizabeth I
• Daughter of Henry VIII and
Anne Boleyn
• Restored Protestantism in
England
• Queen for 45 years 15581603
• Called the “Virgin Queen” Unwilling to risk a loss of
her power to a husband,
she never married and bore
no children
• Under her reign England
became a world power,
feared by Spain & France
Catholic Counter-Reformation
• Pope Paul III, realized
that the Catholic Church
needed to make
reforms in order to
combat the Protestants
• In 1545, he called the
Council of Trent, which
met for the next 20
years (1545-1563) to
address the criticisms of
Luther and others
The Council of Trent
• Reaffirmed traditional
Catholic views about
the Bible, the
sacraments, and the
path to salvation
• Did stop the selling of
indulgences
• Cracked down on
corruption and greed
within the Church
Catholic Counter-Reformation
• Created the Inquisition to
root out heretics & secret
Jews and to guide good
Catholics away from
dangerous Protestant ideas
• Created the Jesuits, a
special order of priests
trained to spread
Catholicism and combat
Protestantism; the Jesuits
would go on to become
both the foremost
missionaries and educators
of the Catholic world
Holy Roman Empire
• A multi-ethnic mainly in
central Europe but
included Kingdom of
Germany, Kingdom of
Italy, and Kingdom of
Burgundy (France). The
Princes within these
kingdoms elected the
Holy Roman Emperor
(Catholic) who ruled the
entire empire.
• Naturally, because this
was such a large
empire, different
regions had differing
views on who and how
the empire should
operate.
Thirty Years War
• 1618-1648
• Began in Bohemia in the
Holy Roman Empire
(includes Germany, France
and Italy) between
Protestants and Catholics,
but later involved most of
the major powers of Europe
over land and political
power, particularly the
France-Hapsburg rivalry
(France and Hapsburgs (of the
German-Austria region) were
rivals for the HRE.)
Long destructive war-famine,
bankrupted most involved,
destroyed land
Peace of Westphalia ended
this war, with the
understanding that whoever is
in control of a country will
decide the religion of that
country.
Breaks up the HRE, creates the
German State.
Europe 1648
The Victims of Reformation
• Between 1450-1750, tens
of thousands were
convicted of witchcraft,
magic, or devil worship
and burned at the stake
by fanatical Catholics and
Protestants alike
• Jews were once again
targeted for persecution
as a group both Catholics
and Protestants could
agree to hate