Reformation
TIMELINE
• c. 1360 Petrarch, an Italian scholar, develops the ideal of humanism
• 1403–4 Lorenzo Ghiberti works on first set of bronze doors for Baptistery in
Florence
• c. 1450 The printing press is invented
• 1469–92 Lorenzo de Medici rules Florence
• 1489 Savonarola preaches moral reforms in Florence
• 1492 Columbus discovers America
• 1493–1506 Ancient Roman paintings and sculptures are discovered at Rome
• 1497 Portuguese explorers reach India
• 1508–13 Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling
• 1517 Luther’s 95 Theses begin the Reformation
• 1519–22 Magellan circumnavigates the globe
• 1527 Emperor Charles V sacks Rome and imprisons the Pope
• 1564 William Shakespeare and Galileo Galilei are born
Conditions of the Church
• Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales heaped sarcasm
on the Church
• Boccaccio’s Decameron described immoral
behavior of the clergy
• Conciliar Movement wanted reforms of the
church “in head and members”
• Machiavelli’s The Prince relates, “We
Italians are irreligious and corrupt above
others, because the Church and her
representatives set us the worst example.”
• Erasmus, in The Praise of Folly, condemned
the absurd superstitions, extreme ignorance,
and excessive rituals of Europeans,
particularly local clergy
The Church at the Local Level
• Villagers were semi-pagan, combining
pre-Christian myths w/ Church teachings
• Village priests were peasants who could
barely read and write Latin
• Often, they did not know the words they
were mouthing during service (always in
Latin)
• Their morality was little better than their
fellow peasants. Accusations were many:
– Violations of celibacy (mandated since
the 4th century)
– Drunkenness
– Gambling
– Excessive wealth
The Church Leaders
• Pluralism and absenteeism became so
wide spread and abused that absurd
situations developed
– Many (I) clerics in papal curia held
bishoprics in (E) (F) (S) & (G)
– Thomas Wolsey (E), Archbishop of
York under Henry VIII, did not
enter the city of York until 15 years
after he became its Bishop
– Antoine du Prat (F), Archbishop of
Sens, first entered his cathedral in
his own funeral procession
• Nationalist feelings bristled at (I)
clerics taking money, in absentia, from
the rest of Europe
The Popes
• Pius II (r.1458-1464) wrote love
stories and Latin poetry
• Sixtus IV (r.1471-1484) built
Sistine Chapel, supported artists
• Innocent VIII (r.1484-1492) made
papal court model of luxury and
scandal
• Alexander VI (r.1492-1503)
(Borgia Pope) publicly
acknowledged his mistress and
children
• Julius II (r.1503-1513) fought in
battles to expand Papal States
• Leo X (r.1513-1521) (son of
Lorenzo de Medici) was great
patron of the arts
Humanism & Reform
• (E) (F) (S) (G) humanism started
educational & religious reforms
• Nationalistic in form (Pope ruled as
secular Italian (I) lord, after all)
Northern Humanism
Northern humanism was more diverse than (I) counterpart:
- Wrote more to commoners
- Focused on reforming the Church
- Unlike (I) Humanism, wrote few secular works
Johann Gutenberg (d.1468)
• Invented printing press w/ moveable
type in Mainz, Germany
• Published Bible in 1454
• Could print for everyone
• Humanists had instrument to
disseminate ideas
• Literacy increased
• Church was challenged on nonbiblical doctrines, but the Church
could use the press too!
The Clergy
• Upper 3rd Estate & nobility dominated
higher Church offices
• Pluralism meant absentee Church leaders
• Local priests, unable to advance, often
ignorant of the Gospels, and lacking
spiritual guidance became increasingly
frustrated. They either became
disenchanted or chose individual pursuit
of piety. In short, the links between the
top of the Church pyramid and the
bottom were being greatly weakened
I Want to Know that I
am Going to Heaven!
• People sought surety of salvation in 2
ways:
– Purchase of relics & indulgences,
and pilgrimage trips
– Personal spiritual experience, as seen
in the movement Modern Devotion,
which established the Brothers of
the Common Life lay religious
order
• Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) wrote
The Imitation of Christ, a work outlining
the need for a Christ-like life for
salvation, rather than adherence to
religious dogma
The Church’s Theology & Indulgences
• Sinners alienate themselves from
God & His love
• Sinner must confess & do penance
assigned by clergy
• Doctrine of indulgences rested on
three principles:
– God is merciful, but also just
– Christ & saints, through infinite
virtue, established “treasury of
merit” from which the Church
(Pope), through special
relationship with them, can draw
– Church (Pope) has power to
grant to sinners the spiritual
benefits of those merits
Luther’s Reformation:
Religious or Political?
• Albrecht of Brandenburg bought Archbishopric
for 20,000 florins
• Pope Leo X secretly allowed Albrecht to keep
50% of proceeds from sale of indulgences
• 1517 sale of indulgences by Tetzel conflicted w/
Luther’s belief in salvation through faith, not
works. Wittenburg, Luther’s school, was in
Saxony, Germany
• Frederick III (the Wise) of Saxony, Elector of
the Emperor, refused Tetzel’s sales on
Frederick’s soil.
• Tetzel set up shop just across the border and
money flowed from Saxony to Tetzel
• Luther responded w/ 95 Theses on indulgences,
writing them in German
Luther’s Reformation:
Religious or Political?
• Word spread quickly, and Tetzel’s sales
plummeted
• 1518 Luther denounced Scholasticism as antiintellectual, gaining support of Humanists, who
declare themselves “Lutherans”
• Tetzel privately reprimanded by Archbishop
Albrecht of Brandenburg, but Catholic Church
publicly supported Tetzel (What was the
alternative?)
• Pope underestimates problem claiming Luther is,
“some drunken German who will amend his ways
when he sobers up.”
• At the Leipzig Debate (1519) Luther was bested by
Catholic apologist John Eck
– Luther forced to deny the authority of the Pope
Luther’s Reformation:
Religious or Political?
• 1520-1521 Peasants begin to understand fragments
of the Gospels, in which it becomes clear that Jesus
has sympathy for the poor, hostility toward the rich
• Peasants assume Luther’s support & literate 3rd
Estate publish Karthans (Pitchfork John)
supporting Luther
• Peasant view of Pope as great magician shattered
• Luther now the voice of millions, (peasants,
nobility, and upper 3rd Estate, some middle 3rd
Estate)
• 1520 Luther declares, “Farewell, unhappy,
hopeless, blasphemous Rome! The Wrath of God
has come upon you, as you deserve.”
• He begins to write hymns, and people begin to sing
them
The Church Responds!
• Unable to respond to Luther’s printed attacked
w/ traditional Catholic teachings, the Pope
excommunicates Luther in 1521
• Emperor Charles V summons Luther to Worms,
where he is expected to recant. He does not
• Luther is declared an outlaw, goes into hiding for
a year
• Support for Luther continues to grow.
Charles V (r.1519-1556)
• 1519 Charles I of Spain becomes
Charles V, HRE (unites Spain under 1
crown, makes Habsburg lands vast!)
• Wants to unite Europe under Catholic
faith
• Personally controls nearly ½ of Europe
• Cannot stamp out Luther due to
– Weakness of HRE
– Support for Luther among Germans
– Frequent wars w/ rivals
Titian
Peace of Augsburg
• Charles V forces to recognize that
he could not stamp out Luther or
the Reformation
• Princes will choose religion of
their realms
• NOT an act of toleration
• Europe split
• C5 retires, gives throne to brother
The Reformation Elsewhere
• Simultaneous, independent
movements developed (F), Switz.
– Reformation in Zurich
– Anabaptists & Radical
Protestants
– Spiritualists
– Anti-Trinitarians
John Calvin’s Geneva
Pastors
Teachers
Elders
Deacons
Believers
• Calvin, passing through Geneva, was
asked to stay & reform Geneva church but
forced to flee because his rules were seen
as too harsh.
• 1540 Calvin returned & reformed Geneva
– Wrote Institutes of the Christian
Religion in 1536, in Basel
– Surpassed Luther in popularity of
beliefs by late 16th century
• Principle: elect should live manifestly
God-pleasing lives
• Captured & executed Michael Servetus in
1553
• Geneva became Calvinist refuge and
“woman’s paradise” (wife-beating
condemned)
The English Reformation
• (E) had long history of opposing Pope
• William Tyndale (1492-1536) translated
Bible in (E) (1524-26)
• Lollardy (poor): Vernacular Bible,
rejection of Pope as Church authority
• Christian Humanism (rich)
– Thomas More
The King’s Affair
• 1509: H8 married dead brother’s wife,
Catherine of Aragon (HRE C5’s aunt!)
WHY?
• Special dispensation granted by Pope Julius II
(remember: WHAM! “You’re
excommunicated” Remember: Sistine
chapel)
• No male heirs (just future Queen Mary I)
• H8 sought annulment (after 18 years!)
• Pope Clement VII delayed granting annulment
out of fear WHY?
• 1529: Wolsey fired, Thomas Cromwell (14851540) #1 advisor. Cromwell advises
annulment by (E) clerical courts, not (I)!
Sources of Catholic Reform
• Several Orders sought reform in the 1500s
– Reform the Church
– Educate pious men for Church
leadership
– Individuals called for return to mystic
piety
– Popes resisted threat to power
Council of Trent (1545-1556)
• Three sessions, four popes, started @
insistence of Charles V WHY?
• Pope controlled, very Italian
• Results:
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Church offices no longer for sale
Bishops to reside in own dioceses
Serve Mass regularly
Better educated priests
Seminary in every diocese
All core doctrines kept
Thomas Aquinas’s theology elevated
Parishes improved w/ better clergy