The Reformation Spreads
Unit I-04
PROTESTANTISM SPREADS
Now that we understand the beginning of the Protestant Reformation with
Martin Luther, we are going to turn now to examine how Protestantism
manifested itself in particular countries and the development of other
Protestant beliefs.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Types of Protestantism
Protestantism in Germany (Lutheranism)
Protestantism in Switzerland (Zwinglianism)
Protestantism in France (Calvinism)
Protestantism in England (Anglicanism)
Types of Protestantism
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Protestantism is not ONLY Lutheranism.
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Very quickly, Luther was not the only man to propose Protestant
reform of the orthodox church.
As Protestantism spread, divergent and diverse ideas of Reform
emerged
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Lutheranism: develops from ideas of Martin Luther. Most popular in
Germany.
Zwinglianism: develops from ideas of Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss reformer.
Most popular in Switzerland.
Calvinism: followed teachings of John Calvin, a French theologian. Most
popular in France.
Anglican: Protestant faith in England
Anabaptists: radical reformers who believed in total separation between
church and state
PROTESTANTISM IN GERMANY
• 1517 – Luther begins critique of church with 95 Theses
• 1519 – Luther called to participate in Leipzig Debate
• Catholic Johann Eck debates Luther on his teachings and his
opinion of the church
• Debate important ideas like indulgences, penance, and the
papacy
• Eck labels Luther a heretic
• 1521 – Diet of Worms
• Diet: an assembly to discuss and make important decisions
• Summoned by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to discuss
dissident views on church
• Issues Edict of Worms, which denounces Luther and his followers
EDICT OF WORMS
(1521)
For this reason we forbid anyone from this time forward to dare, either by
words or by deeds, to receive, defend, sustain, or favour the said Martin
Luther. On the contrary, we want him to be apprehended and punished as
a notorious heretic, as he deserves, to be brought personally before us, or
to be securely guarded until those who have captured him inform us,
where upon we will order the appropriate manner of proceeding against
the said Luther. Those who will help in his capture will be rewarded
generously for their good work.
PROTESTANTISM IN GERMANY
• Luther gradually realizes there can be no reforming the
church from within
• Begins to realize a break from the (Catholic) church is the only
path
• Important to note: Luther did NOT want to separate from the
church at first
• Luther protected by powerful German lord, Frederick
the Wise of Saxony
• Lutheranism begins to develop as a Protestant faith,
alternative to orthodox Christianity (Catholicism)
LUTHER’S SUPPORTERS
• Princes in Germany, like Frederick the Wise
• Potential for secular lords to gain lands from the church
• Reformation could weaken HRE’s power, would mean more
power for German nobles
• Growing German nationalism > general “Christendom”
• Peasants
• Already upset about their conditions
• Adopted Luther’s critique of the pope’s abuses with the rest
of the things they were angry about
•
•
•
•
Inflation
Hunger
Taxes
Now abuses by the church too
PEASANTS’ WAR IN GERMANY
(1524)
• Peasants circulate the Twelve Articles
• List of peasants’ demands, ex:
• Lower taxes
• Access to hunting and fishing lands
• Free serfs
• Use Luther’s vocabulary of religious reform to their own nonreligious grievances
• Link Protestantism with revolution
• Luther appalled his ideas are being used for violence
• Responds with “Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of
Peasants”
• Lutheranism wins more support from lords
• Rebellion suppressed
LUTHERANISM IN GERMANY
• Holy Roman Emperor Charles V struggling to
suppress Protestantism in Germany
• 1530 – Charles V threatens to arrest any Lutherans unless
that re-convert to Catholicism (…this doesn’t work).
• 1540s and 1550s – Lutheranism sweeps across Holy Roman
Empire
• 1555 – Charles V and his successor Ferdinand
negotiate peace with the Lutherans
• Realize they can’t stop Lutheran spread.
PEACE OF AUGSBURG
(1555)
• 1555 – Charles V and his successor Ferdinand negotiate
peace with the Lutherans
• Establishes Lutheranism as a legitimate alternative to
Catholicism
• German lords would define their territories as either
Lutheran or Catholic
• Cuius regio, eius religio – who rules, his religion
• Lutheran in a Catholic principality? Free to move.
• Does not allow other types of Protestantism, just
Lutheranism
• Major Significance: Opened door for Protestantism in all
its forms to spread across Europe, church fractured
Protestantism in Switzerland
Soon after Luther’s critique of the church in Germany, Swiss
Christians got involved in the growing Protestant Reform
movement.
Many Swiss eager for social and religious change. Like
peasants we just saw in Germany, they too are upset with
current order and hungry for change.
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Leader of the Reform in Switzerland
Influenced by Erasmus
1519 – becomes priest in Zurich,
begins critique of church
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Rejects saints and pilgrimages
Rejects purgatory
Ends clerical celibacy
Dismisses most of the sacraments
Believes in following only scripture,
not doctrine of church as an
institution
Later portrait of Zwingli,
1850s
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At first, there’s the possibility of forming a single, unified Christian
religion that would be strong enough to oppose Catholicism
1529 – Luther and Zwingli meet to discuss this possibility.
◦ Disagree strongly over Eucharist and the “Real Presence of Christ” in
communion
 Zwingli believes the Eucharist is completely symbolic; Jesus not physically
there
 Luther still believes that Christ’s body and spirit were both present in the
Eucharist
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Zwingli also encourages iconoclasm, the destruction of images
The result? Zwinglianism spreads in Switzerland, Lutheranism in
Germany
PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE
 French Protestants embrace
Calvinism, teachings of John
Calvin
 French Calvinists called
Huguenots.
 Problems? Protestantism
suppressed in Catholic
France by King Francis I.
Portrait of Francis I.
PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE
 Calvinism based on ideas of
French humanist scholar John
Calvin (1509-1564)
 Called to Protestantism in the 1530s,
begins to critique church
 Protestants being suppressed by
Catholic French King Francis I
 1535 – Calvin and his family
flee France, go to Switzerland
 1536 - Publishes The Institutes
of the Christian Religion
 Explains Protestant beliefs to
readers
CALVINISM
 Stressed the power and majesty of God
 Compare to Luther’s emphasis on human salvation
 For Calvin, man is sinful
 If God were only just, then everyone would be damned
because everyone is a sinner. But God is merciful.
 Predestination – belief that God preordains who
would be saved (the “Elect”) and who would be
damned
 Power in God’s hands
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Protestant ideas begin spreading from
the continent to England
Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) king of
England
• Not a Protestant (Not at first? Not at all?
Debated by historians.)
• 1521 – Defended Catholicism, wrote
Defense of the Seven Sacraments
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However, Henry VIII has a problem:
He needs a male heir…
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1509 – Henry VIII had married
Catherine of Aragon
• Unable to produce a son to be heir
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Soon, Henry VIII meets and falls in
love with Anne Boleyn…
Henry VIII tries to secure annulment
to dissolve his first marriage but fails.
• Problem 1? Pope Clement VII busy with
Protestant problem
• Problem 2? Pope related to Catherine.
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1533 – Anne becomes pregnant…
• Henry in a bind because he needs this
child, if a son, to be legitimate
Portrait of Anne Boleyn
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To solve these problems, Henry VIII ignores pope as head of
church
1533 – Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer annuls Henry’s
marriage to Catherine, recognizes marriage to Anne
Anne gives birth…to a daughter, Elizabeth
• Henry recognizes her as legitimate
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1534 – Henry VIII issues the Act of Supremacy
• Declares King of England, not the pope, as the head of the Church in
England
 English monarch is now the “only supreme head on earth of the Church of
England”
• Establishes an Anglican church with the King as the head
• Recognized as the start of the Protestant Reformation in England
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Not everyone happy with Henry’s split
from the Catholic church
Thomas More (1478-1535): a
Christian humanist but loyal to Catholic
church, served Henry VIII as Lord
Chancellor (very important)
• Opposed reform teachings of Luther
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1533 – refused to attend coronation of
Anne Boleyn
1534 – refuses to acknowledge Act of
Supremacy
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Arrested for treason
• By not agreeing to the Act of
Supremacy
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1535 – Put on trial
6 July 1535 – Executed for treason
Significance: Now have a
Catholic martyr in the Protestant
Reformation
Anabaptists
• More “radical” Protestants
• Believed that people should only be baptized as adults
when they can make an informed decision
• Advocated total separation between church and state
• Remember: this is big because we are still in a very religious
environment in the 16th century
• Most believed Good Christians should not participate in
government or war
• In Munster in 1534, burned all books except Bible
Women and Protestantism
 Amidst all of this arises the question about women in the
movement
 If the individual has the ability to communicate with God without a priest,
how does the power of the female individual fit in? Can women interpret
scripture by themselves, or do they need men to do it for them?
 Can women be religious leaders?
 Both Luther, Calvin maintain no
 Marie Dentiere (1495-1561): female Reformer from Switzerland,
raises this woman question
 Believed that men and women were equally qualified to interpret
scripture.
 Represents changing self-awareness and identity of women
 Compare to female humanist scholar Isotta Nogarola (1418-1466) who
tried to debate with male humanists and was shut out of discussion.
EFFECTS & REASONS
FOR SUCCESS
Ideals of Protestantism combined with a dissatisfaction with
current state of affairs and a growing national spirit
Medieval concept of a united “Christendom” at first fractured,
then destroyed
Introduces religious diversity
Not just “Catholic vs. Protestant” but all the types of Protestantism
Successful spread of Protestantism across Europe (for various
spiritual and political motives, as we’ve seen today) sets the stage
for serious conflict between Catholics and Protestants…